A Few More F Words
by anhanninen
Summary: Fatherhood sequel. Five year old Sofia is starting school and Edward can't help but feel his baby is growing up too fast. While he and Bella try to juggle a hyper little girl, careers, and their relationship, they find out their lives are about to change drastically once more. All Human.
1. First Day

**A/N: **Hi! I'm back with a little more from this lovely little family. Thanks so much for checking this out. Can't believe it's been a year since the first chapter of Fatherhood posted!

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**And a big thank you **to IllicitWriter for the great banner, which is on my profile.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

As I watched Little One stumble, trying to mimic whatever fucking move it was that the teacher wanted her to do, I felt the burn of tears in my eyes. Jesus Christ, _I _was about to cry. My little one was five years old and tomorrow, she'd be starting kindergarten. Where the hell had the time gone? It felt like just yesterday I watched her crawl for the first time and got so excited that I recorded it. But here she was now, attempting to dance without falling over. She wasn't doing a very good job at it, by the way.

I didn't know how the hell it happened, but even though Bella wasn't her biological mom, Sofia seemed to be just like her — down to the coordination. She would even bite her lip when she was nervous, which she was doing right now. The teacher had the girls stop, and Little One was biting her lip, looking down at her feet because she was afraid the teacher would criticize her for not getting the moves right.

"All right, I think that's enough for tonight," the teacher, Ms. Bartlett said, smiling. "Pack up and go home. I'll see you next week."

As the girls disbanded, Ms. Bartlett pulled Sofia aside. I quickly grabbed the pink duffle bag and walked over, wanting to make sure she wasn't being mean to my kid. Luckily for her, she wasn't. She offered Little One words of encouragement and told her to practice at home. Honestly, I didn't know why Sofia wanted to keep coming back here. Bella and I put her in the class a few weeks ago so she could make friends, but it was clear ballet wasn't going to be her skill. Still, we offered her a chance out and she didn't take it.

Little One shuffled over to me, putting her arms out for me to pick her up. "You're getting better," I said, kissing her cheek.

She looked at me, pouting. "I suck, Daddy. I sweaw I'm twying, though."

"I know you are, Little One. Let's go home and see what Mommy's up to, all right? I heard this rumor that she's making spaghetti for dinner." I smiled, walking out of the studio.

"Wealy?" she asked, eyes wide with a smile.

"Really," I chuckled, unlocking the car.

Once I had her buckled into the booster seat, we headed to our house on the outskirts of Forks. The move here was probably the best thing we could have done, and though I wish Charlie hadn't had his heart attack, I was thankful we left Port Angeles. Forks Community Hospital certainly wasn't the busiest place, but I enjoyed it. I still performed surgery, but with a hospital so small, I got to work in other departments, too. And I still worked at Olympic Medical Center when Emmett needed me. It was the best of both worlds. I was home by five most days, but other days I had difficult, time consuming surgeries that I loved. I was so fucking happy, even though just a few short years ago I never wanted any of this. If I could kick myself, I would.

Little One and I got home just after six, and we found Bella in the kitchen, just finishing up. I set Sofia down on her feet and whispered in her ear, "Go surprise hug Mommy."

She tiptoed over and threw her arms around Bella's legs, yelling, "I got ya!"

Bella laughed and turned around to pick her up. "You did, sweet girl. You scared Mommy so good." She put her hand over her heart and sighed dramatically. "I'm not sure my heart will ever return to normal."

"Daddy!" Little One yelled needlessly. "I scawed Mommy _sooo_ good!"

"I saw," I laughed, pressing my lips to Bella's.

"Yucky! Put me down."

She put Sofia down, and I pulled her against my chest, kissing her deeper as I caressed that spot behind her ear. We parted, smiling. "I missed you," I said.

"I missed you, too. Dinner is about done, so why don't you go make sure Sofia can get out of her leotard without maiming herself?"

"Good idea," I laughed. "I love you."

I softly kissed her once more. "I love you, too," she said.

Thankfully, Little One managed to put a t-shirt and shorts on all by herself. We washed our hands together, and she sang the song we had made up. Well, Bella had made up. I had no part in creating a song about washing away germs with the puffy, pink colored soap. But hey, if it got her to do it, I was game.

I carried my squealing child over my shoulder back downstairs for dinner, just in time for Bella to put the plates down. Of course Little One ate that shit up, making a mess of her face. Yeah, Bella's spaghetti was a favorite of mine and Sofia's, but at least I kept myself clean.

"So, what did Nana do with you and Ben today?" Bella asked Little One.

"Pawk! But Ben was a meanie and pushed me down, Mommy," she said, frowning. "Nana gaves him a time out, though. And afta that, we went to the flowa place and I got to make a . . . bucket, wight?"

I smiled. "Bouquet, but close."

"Yeah, so that was fun. Then she dwopped me off with Daddy, and I got to play in his office," she said, taking another large bite of spaghetti.

"She made sure Sally was healthy," I laughed, remembering her using my stethoscope to listen to her doll's nonexistent heart. Fuck, my kid was adorable.

"That sounds like such a fun day, sweetie," Bella said. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Little One nodded with her mouth full. "You be thewah, wight?"

"Swallow, baby," I said, picking up another bite.

She chewed and swallowed. "Sowy."

"It's all right." Bella smiled. "And yes, I'll be there, but remember you're not in my class. You're in Mrs. Peter's class."

"I know, Mommy," she sighed, not liking it.

When she found out Bella wouldn't be her teacher, Little One threw a fit and decided she wouldn't be going to school. We had to sit down with her and explain that mommies weren't allowed to teach their kids, but that school would still be fun. After crying and throwing her stuffed animals — which earned her a time out — she finally agreed to go to school as long as she could have lunch with Mommy. Little One's temper tantrums were fucking frightening, let's just say. Apparently, she got that from me, according to Mom. Yeah, I could see that.

Once we had finished dinner, Bella took Little One upstairs for her bath as I did dishes. It was our deal since she cooked, and I didn't mind it. Bella did so much every day, so a little dishes and trash were nothing to me.

"She wants to play Barbies with us," Bella said, wrapping her arms around my stomach. "I told her to get them out, and we'd be up soon."

"Barbies," I chuckled softly, shaking my head.

Who would have thought I'd be playing Barbies with my daughter? Sure as hell not me, but then again, I had also worn a tutu and had tea time with her. The pictures were deleted, by the way.

I turned around as Bella kept her arms around me and dipped my head to kiss her. When we parted, she bit her lip, hiding a smile. "You'll always be my Nibbles," I said, smirking.

"Damn," she laughed.

* * *

After a good while of moving a Barbie doll around, playing out some imaginary wedding that Little One had come up with, we cleaned up and put her in bed. Bella and I lay on either side of her and read _Where the Wild Thing Are, _taking turns on each page. Not long into the book, I looked down to find Sofia drifting off. Her little mouth opened wide with a yawn as she rested her head against my chest. Once she was asleep, we stopped reading and quietly got out of bed.

I pulled the blankets up to her shoulders and leaned down, kissing her forehead. "Sleep well, Little One," I whispered.

Bella did the same, and then we tiptoed out of her room and pulled her door to. I put my arm over her shoulder as we headed back downstairs. Our nightly goal of getting Little One in bed by eight was a success tonight, which considering tomorrow was her first days of kindergarten, was unbelievable.

"I think your mom wore her out today," Bella laughed as we sat down on the couch and I pulled her into my arms.

"Park plus no nap is a good thing, apparently. Add in ballet and I'm surprised she didn't pass out early."

"How was she tonight?"

"Same. Two left feet, just like her mom." I smirked. "She still doesn't want to quit, but she thinks she sucks. I mean, I'll never say it to her, but she kind of does."

"Edward!" she said, slapping my chest. "She's just . . . new. I'm sure with practice she'll get better."

I snorted. "Have you seen her? The second she hurts herself — which I'm pretty sure is coming — she's done."

"We'll have to start looking into other things, then. She likes the interaction with other kids. Maybe she'll want to quit once she starts school."

"God, I hope so," I sighed. "So, how was your day? Did you get your classroom all set up?"

Bella had finally gotten a job here in Forks last year after one of the kindergarten teachers retired. It worked out pretty well, actually. We put Sofia in preschool and daycare afterwards, so she got to make friends and interact with people she didn't know. Bella missed being home with her, but she was also ready to get back to work.

She nodded, leaning into me. "I did. I'm excited for tomorrow, especially since I'll have my little girl with me."

"Lucky you."

"What about you? How was your day?"

"Good, I spent most of it in the ER. I saw your dad, by the way. He said he's going to come over tomorrow to see how Sofia did at school."

She smiled up at me, cocking her head. "How are _you _doing with that?"

I shook my head. "I can't believe it's time. Putting her in preschool was hard enough. I don't think I'm ready for kindergarten."

"If you cry, I'm taking pictures."

"I about did today, Bella. When I was watching her during ballet, I kept thinking how the time has passed too quickly. Doesn't it seem like just yesterday she talked for the first time?"

"It does. You know, I'm still amazed that 'fuck' wasn't her first word." She smirked.

"Well, it wasn't. That didn't come out until close to her first birthday," I chuckled lowly. Yeah, that wasn't cool, and her doing it near Mom was even worse. "But it does seem too quick, right? She's growing up too fast. Before I know it, she'll be dating and I'll be a murderer."

"Nice," she laughed.

I kissed the top of her head. "I just . . . she's all we have."

She sat up and turned to face me as a smile played on her lips. "What if she wasn't?"

"Bella, we've been trying for a long time. I want another kid too, but it's not happening."

"Well . . . it has."

My eyes widened as I sat up. "What?"

She placed her hand against her stomach and nodded. "I was going to tell you tomorrow night. You know, make something cute out of it, but yeah, Edward, I'm pregnant."

I stared at her flat stomach in awe. She was _pregnant_. Not long after we had gotten married three years ago, we had decided we wanted another baby, but we waited until last year for her to go off of the pill. It just wasn't the right time. Little One was a toddler — a handful, really — so we waited until she started preschool to start trying. Only it didn't happen. We didn't push it, but instead decided to just go about as usual and when it happened, it happened. But after a year, it hadn't. We didn't talk about it much, but there had been a short discussion of involving a fertility specialist. We decided against it right now, though. We figured we'd give it a little more time.

"You're . . . pregnant." I smiled, laying my hand against hers. "With my baby."

She laughed. "Of course it's yours! Who else's would it be?"

"Well, I'd hope no one's," I chuckled. "Bella, we're having a baby."

She nodded. "I know. I didn't believe it when I first thought of it, but I'm two weeks late. It made sense, so I bought a test on my way home today."

I pulled her into my arms and pressed my lips to hers. Our tongues moved together as my hand slid under her shirt and laid against her flat stomach. In just a few short months, I'd feel a baby move. My baby. I fucking hated that I didn't get that with Little One, so I was already planning on making the most out of this. Bella, my _wife_, was having my baby. Little One would be a big sister, and I'd be a dad again. Maybe I wouldn't be so freaked out over every little thing this time.

Who the hell was I kidding? Yes, I would.

"I love you so much," I said, pressing my forehead to hers. "Bella, I'll never be able to thank you enough for loving me — for trusting me to be the man you thought I could be. We're going to be parents again. Holy shit."

She pecked my lips softly. "If this baby's first word is a curse, I'm divorcing you."

I laughed, picking her up off of the couch. "Sure, Nibbles, sure."

I carried her upstairs, trying to be quiet so we wouldn't wake Sofia. The kid had just become more of a cockblocker as she got older, so I didn't get as many chances as I wanted to make love to my wife. Tonight, though, she was passed out, and I locked the door behind me before laying Bella down.

I took my time taking her clothes off and kissing every inch of her. Her head fell back on the pillow as she moaned, asking for more. I placed my hand against her stomach, moving down slowly as goose bumps rose on her skin. She parted her legs, begging for me.

I kissed her, nibbling on her lip. "I've missed you," I whispered, moving my fingers into her, pumping slowly, finding her so fucking ready for me. I couldn't wait any longer. It had been almost two weeks, after all.

I moved between her legs, pushing into her slowly, relishing the feeling of being in my Bella. My beautiful, beautiful Bella. God, she was amazing.

* * *

"Daddy, it's not wight!" Sofia yelled, fucking up the French braid pigtails Bella had done before she left.

Bella had to be at the school early today, so she helped Little One get dressed and ready before breakfast. Of course now there was something wrong with the pigtails, and I was screwed because I couldn't fix them.

"Baby, you have to eat or we'll be late," I said, picking up her spoon and holding it out for her. "Please, if you finish quickly, we'll have Mommy fix them before anyone sees you."

She huffed, grabbing the spoon from my hand. Yeah, the morning wasn't going so great. I knew she was scared, but so was I, and her attitude wasn't helping. Today was my little one's first day of school. Fuck, I just wanted to go back to when she was a baby and couldn't talk or walk. I would have wanted to keep the potty training, though.

God bless potty training.

"You're going to make lots of new friends today and see some of your old ones, too," I said, rubbing her back as she ate. "Remember Macy from preschool? She'll be there."

"Weally? In my class?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we saw her a few days ago when we met your teacher. I'm sure there will be other kids you know there, too."

"But not you." She pouted. "And not Mommy."

I smiled, caressing her cheek. "I'll be there to pick you up, though, and you're having lunch with Mommy. You won't even have time to miss us."

"But it's _alllll _day. That's not faiwah."

"It's not _alllll _day," I mimicked. "Just until three o'clock. While you're there, I'll be at work like usual. You'll see me the same amount as always."

She shrugged, putting her spoon in the almost empty bowl. "I don't wanna go."

"I know, Little One." I kissed her cheek. "But you have to. Are you finished?"

She nodded, blowing out a dramatic breath. "Yeah."

Sofia took her sweet time, dragging her feet to the car. If I hadn't felt so bad for her, I would have been impressed with her tactics of wasting time. She forgot her lunchbox in the house, complained her seatbelt was too tight so I had to redo it, and last but not least, she had to potty again — you know, _after _I fixed her seatbelt twice. Kid was resourceful.

"Would you like to listen to The Wiggles?" I asked, looking in the rear view mirror. She just shrugged, pouting. "Fine, Daddy's music, then."

"Wiggles," she mumbled.

I smiled to myself, turning on the god-awful music she liked. Only for her . . . and eventually, her sibling. I was still on a high after last night's news, and Little One's sour mood couldn't bring me down. Bella and I had decided to wait until she saw a doctor to tell people, just in case. She promised she'd call her doctor during lunch today, though. Hopefully, she could get in soon because I wanted to shout this from the rooftops.

When we got to the school — still early, thankfully — I texted Bella and asked her to come out and help with Little One's braids. While we waited, I got Sofia out and put her backpack on her. I blew a raspberry on her check, hoping to make her smile. Of course she couldn't resist it.

Point for Dad. "You look _so_ pretty," I said, fixing the strap on her backpack and pulling the sleeve of her dress down. It was pink with white polka dots on the skirt. She and Bella took forever to finally pick the outfit.

"Yeah?" she asked softly before biting her lower lip.

I smiled, nodding as I saw Bella approach us. "Yes. And here comes Mommy."

"Look at my baby!" Bella said, grinning. "Are you ready for school?"

I shook my head, mouthing, "No."

"Do I hafta?" Sofia asked as her pout returned.

"Aww, sweetie," Bella sighed, kneeling down. "You have to go to school. You're a big girl, right?"

Little One nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Well, you can't be a big girl if you don't go to school."

"But my piggy tails awen't wight."

Bella smiled, kissing her cheek. "Good thing Mommy's here then, huh? Turn around for me."

Bella worked her magic quickly, redoing the braids so they looked perfect again. Once Little One was satisfied with the look and feel, we took her hands and walked into the school. We were early, so no one else was in Little One's classroom except her teacher. We went to Sofia's cubby and put her lunchbox in there before finding her table. She sat down and bit her lip, looking around.

Bella said goodbye first, since she had to get to her classroom. She took Little One's hands and smiled. "You're going to have so much fun, sweetie," she said. "I'm right next door, but you won't need me. You're a big girl, and I know you can do this. Everyone will love you."

Sofia nodded. "M'kay. I love you, Mommy."

Bella kissed her forehead, lingering for a moment. "I love you, too. I'll see you at lunch, all right? We'll eat in my room, but if you find you want to eat with your new friends, that's okay, too."

We both hoped Little One would rather eat with her friends, but Bella certainly didn't mind if she wanted to eat with her, like planned. After kissing both of our daughter's cheeks, Bella stood up and we said goodbye after taking a few pictures — which Little One _did _smile for. I took Bella's place, kneeling down beside Sofia.

"I'm gonna miss you, Daddy," she said.

"I'm going to miss you too, just like I do every day," I said. "Do you need anything? We have all your supplies in your backpack, remember?"

She nodded. "Yep."

I sighed, smiling even though my heart was fucking breaking. I _really _wasn't ready for this. It was such a huge milestone in her life. From now on, she'd go to school. There'd be no more keeping her home with me on my days off or surprising her in the middle of the day to go to the park. "You're growing up, baby," I said.

"I'm a big girl." She smiled.

I nodded. "Yes, you are. You'll always be my little one, though."

She flew forward, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. "Can you stay with me? Please?"

Damn, I wanted to so badly. "I'm afraid not." I patted her back. "I'll be here to pick you up, though. The hours will fly by. Let's look at the clock."

We pulled away, and I pointed to the big clock above the door. "See that three?" I asked.

She nodded, knowing her numbers.

"Well, when that big line points to it, I'll be here again."

"Pwomise?" she asked, looking at me with my own green eyes.

"I promise. You can tell me everything you did then, okay? I want to know it all."

"I'll tell you." She smiled.

I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her forehead. Little One hadn't cried, but I was about to if I didn't man up. Jesus, this was hard. "I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy. Do you hafta go now?"

I nodded. "I do. Sick people need me, remember?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Bye-bye, baby," I said, kissing her cheek one last time before I stood up and walked away, leaving her there.

Three o'clock needed to fucking hurry.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading and supporting! I'm not entirely sure how long this will be, but certainly not as long as Fatherhood.

Oh, and I'm on twitter as anhanninen.


	2. First to Know

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

"_Fuck_," I hissed, pulling Bella down to me, pressing my lips to hers as I came.

She panted my name, trembling in my arms after the third time I'd made her come tonight. It was Friday — well, Saturday morning, technically — and Little One was at my parents' house for the night. It was just Bella and me for once, and we took advantage of the empty house.

Once she'd calmed down, Bella rolled off of my chest, curling into my side as I pressed a kiss to her temple. She was so fucking gorgeous . . . red cheeks, light sweat, big eyes looking up at me. Tonight had been _amazing_, especially after the stress from the last week with starting Sofia in school and falling back into a normal routine.

"You're so beautiful," I said, moving a strand of hair from her forehead.

She smiled up at me. "Thank you. I'm . . . I'm going to need a break now," she giggled softly as I grinned proudly.

"Yeah, me too."

She rested her head against my chest as I caressed her lower back. We just laid there for a few moments, talking about nothing of importance before walking downstairs together. She pulled her robe tighter before opening the freezer, pulling a tub of Ben and Jerry's out and grabbing two spoons.

"Ice cream after sex . . . nice," I said, smirking and sitting down at the bar. She sat down next to me and peeled off the lid before digging right in.

"I think it tastes better this way," she giggled. "Either that or I was _really _craving Cherry Garcia, which means you can thank the baby."

I smiled, resting my hand against her flat stomach. From her last period, I'd estimated that she was about six week along. Her first prenatal appointment wasn't for another two weeks, so we really didn't know any certainties yet. I wasn't thrilled we had to wait so long to get in, but I knew most OBs didn't see a woman until she was eight to ten weeks anyway. It wasn't like an ultrasound would show anything yet, either.

I was just so damn anxious about everything. I'd never experienced a pregnancy before, so this was all new and . . . well, it was pretty fucking scary. I worried that there was something wrong with the baby or something would happen to Bella. Hell, I'd even gone over all the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy with her, making sure she wasn't experiencing any of them.

"Does everything, you know, seem all right?" I asked.

She nodded, smiling. "I'm fine, Edward. The amazing sex we just had didn't hurt the baby."

I laughed. "I _did _know that. I just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay."

"I'm great, actually, though . . . the house does seem kind of empty without Sofia."

I sighed, nodding. It _really _did. We hadn't been loaning the kid out much recently, which meant less alone time, but more time to spend with our daughter. Tonight was actually the first night she'd stayed with my parents in months, and it was just strange not having her here. I missed my little one. There was no bathroom disaster, no bedtime story, or kiss good night.

"I guess we should enjoy it, though," Bella said. "I mean, in a few short months, we'll have _two _kids to take care of. Back to midnight feedings, poopy diapers, nonstop crying . . ." She trailed off.

"But we're ready for it, right?"

She smiled, caressing her stomach. "_Yes_. I can't wait to see you with another baby. You know, that's really why I fell in love with you. You're lucky the attraction's still there," she teased.

"Ha, good one."

She put her spoon down and licked her lips before scrunching her nose up. Her tells were pretty simple — or maybe I just knew her well enough — and the nose scrunch was the most obvious. Naught but moments later, she hurried off of the stool, head over the trash can. It hadn't happened _that _many times — for which I was thankful — but if Bella hadn't figured out she was knocked up a few days ago, it'd have been pretty obvious now with the morning sickness.

I rubbed her back after grabbing a napkin, holding it out for her once she finished. "Maybe after-sex ice cream wasn't the best idea," I said, brushing her hair from her eyes.

She huffed, balling the napkin up in her hand and tossing it into the bag. "No, but at least that's easier than the Chinese food yesterday."

"Yeah, you should probably avoid spicy shit for a while. Here, I'll take this out while you get a bath."

She nodded, smiling lightly. "Thank you, and I expect you'll join me?"

I kissed her forehead. "Of course, Nibbles."

* * *

After I'd taken the trash out, I found Bella upstairs in our bathroom, filling the giant ass tub with half the bottle of bubble bath shit. She just smirked and took her robe off, stepping into the half full tub.

"It smells like my mother's flower shop in here," I chuckled, dropping my pants.

"Lovely, right?"

"Sure, we'll go with that."

She giggled, moving forward as I slid in behind her. She rested back against my chest, taking my hand and putting it over her stomach. "Do you want another girl?" she asked.

"I don't care." Okay . . . maybe I was rooting for a boy a _little _bit. I needed to reclaim my masculinity after all the tea parties and playing house I'd done. I didn't want to say it out loud, though, because I'd sure as hell get another girl. "As long as it's healthy, I'll be happy."

"I kind of want a boy." She looked back at me, pressing her hand to the side of my face. "He'll be just as handsome as his daddy, and I'm sure he'll be quite the charmer, too."

"Oh, I'm charming?"

"No, I am," she laughed. "Admit it. You want one, too."

I shrugged. "I don't want to jinx it."

"Its gender is already decided, _doctor_."

"True, and I've already made one girl, so . . . I really do just want it to be healthy. I think if I survived Sofia, I'll survive another girl. I won't let you corrupt this one with pink shit, though."

She rolled her eyes before laying her head back against my shoulder. "You looked dashing in that tutu."

I moved my lips against her neck, sucking softly. "I'm _always _dashing."

She tilted her head more, letting me move up and down along her jaw. My hand moved lower on her stomach, between her legs as she parted herself more for me. I moved my thumb against her clit, grinning at the gasp that came from her. I pushed two fingers into her, enjoying her warmth around me.

"You're so fucking perfect, you know that?" I asked, nipping at her ear.

She moaned as my fingers moved quicker into her and my thumb circled her clit. Her hand came up around my head, grasping my hair between her fingers. My other hand cupped her breast, brushing over her nipple.

It wasn't long before I felt her tighten around my fingers. "Edward," she cried breathlessly, pushing her body against my hand, moving with me. My name continued to pour from her lips, joined by God's and a few fucks. My wife was so damn perfect, and I could honestly listen to her all night long.

* * *

The bathroom was a mess by the time we were done, but we'd decided to worry about it the next day. Bella and I lay down and I wound up sleeping until nine — which was practically unheard of. I got up, leaving Bella alone in bed. She was exhausted, so I didn't dare wake her on a day I didn't have to. The first trimester of any pregnancy was exhausting, adding that to caring for a rambunctious five-year-old and working, she had every right to stay in bed as long as she damn well pleased.

I went downstairs and started coffee so I didn't bother her. As I waited for her to get up, I did some work I'd brought home and enjoyed not watching cartoons for once. The silence was _beautiful _and without having Little One here to distract me, I finished my work quickly. Of course right after I closed my laptop and put my shit away, my phone began ringing.

It was Mom, so I quickly put it to my ear. Before I could say anything, though, Little One did. "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hi, baby girl," I said. "Does Nana know you have her phone?"

Sofia's ability to swipe phones and use them better than most adults was a little freaky at times. I actually had to put a fucking password on mine to keep her out, but apparently four eights wasn't very hard to break and I'd wound up with a new background of her eye.

"Uh-huh, she told me to call you," she said. "We gonna go to a movie, okay?"

"You have to _ask _him, sweetheart," I heard Mom say.

"Oh, can we go to a movie, Daddy? Please?"

I chuckled, nodding to myself. "Yes, but may I talk to Nana?"

"Thank you!" she yelled before Mom took the phone from her.

"We saw a commercial and she _begged_, Edward," Mom laughed. "They're playing _The Lion King _in theaters again. I didn't think you'd mind, but I wasn't sure what your plans were today."

"It's fine," I said, pouring another cup of coffee. "We really don't have any, so as long as you guys _want _to take her, I don't care."

"Great! And why don't you and Bella just come over for dinner this evening and pick her up then?"

Actually, that sounded pretty fucking great. It'd give Bella another night off of cooking and meant she could just relax all day. "I'll ask Bella when she gets up, but that sounds good to me. Thank you for taking Sofia last night. Was she good?"

"Of course! Her and Pawpaw had a _pretty _intense game of hide and seek, and then we watched _Tangled_ together and ate ice cream way after her bedtime."

I smiled to myself. My kid probably just had to bat her eyelashes at Dad to get ice cream when she should have been sleeping. He was the biggest pushover in the world for his only granddaughter. "Sounds like she had the same thought as Bella," I said. "Just let me know when you want us there, all right?"

"I will. I'll see you later. I love you."

"Love you too, Mom. Bye."

After I hung up the phone, I looked toward the staircase and found Bella finally coming down. She looked at the cup of coffee in my hand and pouted. I tried so damn hard not to laugh.

"I don't think you should get to drink coffee if I can't," she said, walking into my out stretched arm. She tilted her head up and I kissed her softly.

"I can start a pot of decaf."

She narrowed her eyes. "That's not even funny."

While she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, I hid my amusement and pulled the box of Cheerios from the cabinet for her. As she ate, I told her about Mom's offer and she was fine with it, of course. We hadn't told anyone about the pregnancy yet and I promised I wouldn't spill it over dinner because, well, I'd be the one to do it.

We spent the day around the house and I helped her with laundry between shitty old movies that she happened to love. I wound up taking a nap through one of them, actually. It was heaven.

"We need to do Sofia's speech therapy homework tomorrow," Bella reminded me as she sat back down on the couch, moving against my side as I wrapped my arm with her.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll help her with it before dinner or something."

Even though we'd always tried to get Little One to and pronounce the R sound, it just wasn't happening. I found the mispronunciation fucking adorable, but I knew that if we didn't try to get her to talk correctly now, it'd be even harder as she got older. Luckily, the school had a speech therapist and she was put into the program. She had a half hour session twice a week, and she said it was fun so far. Plus, the teacher gave the kids stickers. Stickers were like crack for Little One.

"And _you _have to be at the school next Friday for career day," she said. "You have the morning off, right?"

My blank stare made her eyes grow wide. I'd kind of forgotten, actually. "I'll get it off."

"You said you would last year too, but you couldn't! Edward, you promised."

"I'll be there." I tightened my arm around her, kissing her temple. "Stop freaking out, okay? I'm pretty sure I don't have anything scheduled, so I'll just go in late."

"Did you at least make sure to take off the eighteenth for my prenatal appointment?"

"Yes, I did do that. See? I'm not that awful . . . just a little bit." I smirked.

The corner of her mouth turned up slightly. "Yeah, just a little awful. I'm sorry. I'm just . . . frazzled, I guess. You did forget career day, though, so I get to be upset with you."

I nodded. "Yep, so do I have to suffer through another movie?"

"No, but only because I need to go shower. Maybe I'll spank you tonight," she laughed.

"I'm not sure I'm into that, but if it ends with sex, I'll try it."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Nope, you've gotten plenty lately. I think the thing inside of me, sucking every bit of energy out of me is proof of that."

The only reason I didn't cry was because her hormones would eventually go apeshit, and she'd jump me soon enough. I was looking forward to that . . . along with her boobs that already seemed to be a little fuller.

* * *

When we got to my parent's house and walked inside, Little One was quick to come running. I swung her up into my arms, kissing her cheek as she squeezed my neck before she went after Bella.

"I missed you, sweet girl," Bella said, taking her hand as she led us into the living room.

"I missed you too, Mommy," Sofia said. "Guess what I got to see today? Lion King!"

"Oh, really? I bet that was _awesome_!"

Little One nodded her head fervently. "It was! Nana and Pawpaw took me and it was _sooo_ awesome! I even gots a special cup! Look!"

She picked it up off of the couch, holding it out to Bella and me. Dad told me she'd been good and didn't throw a hissy fit when they refused to get her more candy. That wasn't a small feat, let's just say.

"I'm going to see if your mom needs help with dinner," Bella said as I sat down on the couch and Sofia crawled up onto my lap. "I'm so glad you had fun, sweetie."

Little One went on to tell me more about her night with my parents, looking at Dad to confirm everything. He was grinning, nodding along and adding details she'd forgotten.

"I'm gonna go see Mommy," Little One said, sliding off of my lap.

"Okay, but don't get in their way," I said.

Once she disappeared into the kitchen, Dad and I talked a little about my work. I hadn't been named chief of surgery yet at Forks, but it was looking like a distinct possibility within the next year or two. Dr. James would be retiring soon, handing his job to the current chief of surgery, Dr. Aro Valente.

"How's the clinic?" I asked.

Dad had been working part-time at the free clinic in town since he'd retired years ago. He and Mom actually donated a shit load of money to it each year, so he worked whenever he wanted. It wasn't something I'd want to do, but he enjoyed it. I couldn't imagine not being in an operating room.

He smiled. "It's doing very well, actually. The hospital has asked me to run it, though I turned it down. I've grown too accustomed to my free time and spending it with my grandchildren."

It took a while and few failed attempts for Rosalie and Emmett to conceive again, but they finally had another boy last December. His name was Felix, and Sofia fucking loved him, so I hoped that'd mean she'd adjust to her new sibling when it came time. I wasn't sure, though, because she tended to get jealous if Bella held Felix for too long. The new baby would be a _huge _change and though I was excited, I worried about my little girl. When we were able to tell people, I planned to ask Rose for some tips. Ben seemed to transition well enough.

Once Mom came out to tell us dinner was ready, Dad and I headed into the dining room. I hadn't seen Mom yet, so I quickly hugged her, thanking her for inviting us. Dinner was fucking amazing, of course, and we talked about our lives and what had been going on. Little One was thrilled to tell my parents about her new friends in school.

"She was actually pretty scared her first day," I said, reaching for my glass. "But by the time I'd picked her up, she was back to herself, telling me she couldn't wait to go back."

"I made _soooo _many fwiends," Little One said. "It's fun! And Mommy's class is wight next doowah and we have lunch togethewah and I gets to play with hewah at wecess."

Bella smiled, nodding. "Her teacher says she's been very good in class, too. We're so proud."

Little One just grinned, spooning another mouthful of Mom's homemade macaroni and cheese into her mouth.

As we continued to eat, I glanced next to me to find Bella putting her fork down. Oh, shit. I took her hand, squeezing it lightly as she looked up at me, grimacing. "Um, if you'll excuse me," she said, pushing her chair back.

She hurried out of the room toward the bathroom, and I quickly followed behind her. I held her hair back as she lost her dinner, apologizing between bouts. I figured we could pass it off as gastroenteritis, but my parents _might _know better.

"Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up off of the floor.

She nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep it down."

I kissed her forehead and shook my head. "It's fine, Bella. We'll play it off as a stomach bug, all right?"

"Maybe we should tell them? I don't like lying."

"But if we tell them tonight, Sofia might hear. I don't want her to know just yet."

I really doubted there would be any issues with the pregnancy, but I didn't want Little One to know and then something happen. I mean, it was estimated that one in four pregnancies ended in miscarriage and Sofia was just too young to understand that.

"Me either," she sighed. "So . . . stomach bug? Will your dad buy that?"

"I think it's Mom we have to worry about," I chuckled lowly.

When Rosalie called a family dinner to tell us she was pregnant again, she barely got the words out before Mom said that she just knew it. Mom wasn't just a baby whisperer, but apparently a uterus whisperer as well.

"Shit," she cursed. "She probably knows already!"

"At least I didn't spill the beans." I smirked.

She slapped my chest, glaring at me. "Not funny, Edward. I need to get the bottle of mouthwash from my purse."

When we left the bathroom, Bella headed to the foyer for her purse while I went back into the dining room. Of course all eyes were on me, waiting for an explanation. I fucking sucked at lying to my parents.

"I think Bella's coming down with something," I said, putting Bella's plate over mine. "We should probably go."

"Is she okay?" Dad asked, brow furrowed in concern.

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah, just gastroenteritis probably. We'll stop at the pharmacy on the way home and pick up medicine. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"We should keep Sofia again tonight then," Mom said, standing up and taking the plates from me. "I wouldn't want her to get sick."

Dad nodded. "That's probably for the best, actually."

"No, I'll be fine," Bella said, coming back into the room. "I really don't even feel that bad. I'm so sorry for ruining dinner."

"Nonsense," Mom said. "You can't help feeling ill. Really, we have no problems with keeping Sofia another night."

"I can stay?" Little One asked, smiling.

I glanced at Bella, pleading for her to come up with a reason to take Sofia home. I really didn't like lying to my parents and having them keep Little One again because of it.

"Why don't you go wash up and play with your toys for a little bit?" Bella asked. "We need to talk to Nana and Pawpaw."

"I wanna stay again, though."

"Maybe," I said. "Go on upstairs and we'll talk about it."

She nodded, sliding off of the chair and heading upstairs to the room my parents had for her. Bella and I sat back down as Mom and Dad watched us closely. Suddenly, Mom smiled, looking at Bella.

Well, that didn't take long.

"Why don't you tell them, Edward," Bella said, looking up at me.

Okay, so I was pretty damn excited to share the news, and though waiting might have been better, this worked out pretty well. I grinned, squeezing Bella's hand. "Bella's pregnant. It's still early, but we're sure."

The high pitched sound that came from my mother about made my ears bleed. "Oh my God! Really?" she asked.

I nodded. "She's about six weeks. Her first prenatal appointment isn't for another two weeks, so that's just a guess. We were going to wait until after the appointment to tell you guys, actually."

"We just wanted to be sure everything was okay," Bella said.

"Well, morning sickness is always a good sign," Dad said, smiling. "Congratulations. I'm _so _happy for you both."

"Yes! This is wonderful!" Mom said, standing up. She came around the table with Dad as we stood and embraced Bella tightly, kissing her cheek.

I shook Dad's hand and he pulled me into a hug. "You're going to be a father again, son."

"Yeah, I can't wait," I said, nodding.

"Another baby!" Mom said, throwing her arms around my neck as Dad hugged Bella. "Oh, I'm so thrilled!"

"We both are," Dad said. "I take it Sofia doesn't know?"

I shook my head. "We're going to wait until after the appointment to tell her and everyone else. Sorry about, you know, lying."

Mom rolled her eyes. "You didn't do a very good job of it. I'd already suspected when Bella rushed to the bathroom."

"Of course you did," I laughed.

"I want that sonogram picture, got it?" she asked as Dad nodded. "Bella, if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

Bella smiled. "Thank you, Esme."

"But overall you feel all right?" Dad asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I'm tired, but the morning sickness hasn't been _that _awful — nothing like the horror stories Rosalie told me about. I'm really excited."

"Of course you are, dear. We're here for you both if you need _anything_."

"Just say the word," Mom added.

I knew my parents would be happy for us, so I was really fucking happy we told them earlier than planned. It made it all so much more _real_. I didn't have this part of it with Little One, but I was actually pretty glad I got to experience it all with Bella and not Kate — though I _did _wish I could have been there for Sofia earlier.

This was another new chapter of our lives, and I planned to enjoy every moment of it.

* * *

**A/N: **Wow! I can't believe the response to the first chapter! You all blew me away! _Thank you_! I hope everyone who goes to the opening of Breaking Dawn part 2 tonight enjoys it!

I'm going to be posting the Bella outtake for Fatherhood here in a little bit this morning, too. I'd donated it to Fandom for Suicide Awareness.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Flicker

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

"You going to school with me today, Daddy!" Little One cheered, grinning from ear to ear as I put her bowl of cereal on the table.

I nodded, smiling. "I am, and I'm going to use you as my helper, got it? You'll be a good girl, right?"

"Yeah!"

Bella had already left, needing to get things set up for career day at the school. Thankfully, Bella said I could leave after I was done. There would be a fireman, police officer — Charlie, actually — and a lawyer there, as well. It was something the school did every year for the kindergarteners, and though I'd promised to do it last year, I'd forgotten and couldn't get off of work once Bella reminded me. I couldn't dodge the bullet this year, though. At least I'd have my little one to use as an example, and not someone else's bratty kid.

Honestly, I hadn't really thought about _what _I was supposed to do and say. I mean, I couldn't exactly explain to a bunch of five year olds that I cut people open for a living . . . that might scar them for life. So, I decided to go simple. I'd explain vitals to them using Sofia, tell them a little about surgery, throw in what causes colds and the importance of washing their hands and be out of there in twenty minutes.

Sofia was so fucking excited to show me off, though, so I doubted I could get out of the school as quickly as I wanted. It was kind of adorable, actually. She'd told all of her little friends that her daddy the doctor was coming. My ego may have grown a little with her excitement and calling me the best daddy in the world.

I did try.

"All ready?" I asked, helping Sofia into her light jacket and grabbing her backpack for her.

She nodded. "Uh-huh. You gonna show them you steadyscope, wight?"

"Ste_tho_scope," I corrected. "And yes, it's in my bag."

I picked up the black bag after handing her hers and then we headed into the garage to my car. She wasn't the original Tanya — who I had to give up — but new Tanya was definitely a close second. She was a sleek, black Mercedes S550. Not quite as good as Dad's, but Bella threatened to leave me if I spent two hundred grand on a car. I could kind of see her point, so I agreed.

Once I'd buckled Little One into her booster seat, we headed to the school, getting there a little early. Sofia didn't mind because it meant she could spend some time with Mommy and Charlie.

"There's my pumpkin head!" Charlie said, swinging Little One up into his arms after we'd walked into Bella's classroom. I kissed Bella and then started helping her set up the chairs as Sofia and Charlie talked.

"Hi, Gampy! Did you bwing you badge?"

"Sure did, sweetie," he said, patting the badge on his chest. She ran her fingers over it, smiling. "Are you excited? Did you tell your friends your dad and I were coming?"

She nodded quickly. "Yep! I told them _allll _about you, too! Daddy said I'm gonna be his helpah. Can I help you, too?"

He chuckled. "I'm not sure I need one, but if I do, I'll call for you, okay?"

"Yay!"

After he put her down, I shook his hand. Since his heart attack over four years ago, Charlie had been living much healthier, saying it was for Bella and Sofia. He'd gone back to the force, even though Bella had asked him not to. It was a job he loved, so I really couldn't blame him. Besides, it wasn't like he saw the kind of things cops in bigger cities did. I think he mostly just sat on the side of the highway, waiting to pull me over, actually.

He still gave me tickets, even though I was his son-in-law. Bullshit, right?

"I can't thank you both enough for coming," Bella said. "We're not starting until nine, though, so you two can go to the teachers' lounge for a little while, if you want."

She passed me her key, and I nodded. I knew it'd be a little while wait before it started, so a half hour wasn't that bad. Before the bell rang, Bella kissed Sofia goodbye and I walked her across the hall to her classroom, promising to see her soon.

* * *

While Charlie and I waited, he caught me up on the Seahawks and Mariners, which I hadn't really been paying attention to. Bella and I still hadn't told anyone else about her pregnancy, so he had no clue. She wanted to tell him after her prenatal appointment, so we made plans to have him over for dinner on Tuesday night.

"How've you been?" I asked, drinking the shitty coffee. It was, honest to god, worse than the hospital's.

"Pretty good. Sue, uh . . . isn't coming to dinner on Tuesday. She doesn't want to make Bella uncomfortable, you know?"

I nodded. Yeah . . . Charlie actually had a girlfriend now. Bella was happy for him, but she wasn't exactly comfortable with Sue. It really wasn't anything about the woman — who was actually pretty kind — but Bella was still getting used to the idea of her father in a relationship after so long. "She's not mad about it," I said. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah, but I know it's weird for her. Sue and I haven't even been dating that long, so I don't think it's time to include her in family things yet anyway."

"Maybe next time," I offered.

It was probably for the best Sue wasn't coming. This dinner was about our family and how it'd be growing. I wanted Bella to be comfortable and happy to share this news, not having to worry about her dad's girlfriend.

Just before nine, Charlie and I walked back toward Bella's class to find the other volunteers waiting. Soon after, Bella opened the door and invited us in, introducing us to the two classes of students that were now in her room. Little One was in the front row, waving to us with her adorable fucking smile.

"Since Dr. Cullen needs to get to work, he's going to go first," Bella said, motioning for me to join her up front.

Yeah . . . this was pretty fucking weird, standing in front of a bunch of kids. If I had my way, I wouldn't be here.

"Um . . . questions first or last?" I asked, looking to Bella.

"You can do them last." She smiled.

I nodded and said, "Okay," before taking a breath and turning my head back to the kids. I basically bullshitted my way through explaining my job and then talking to them about vital signs, showing how I took them on Little One. Apparently, I really didn't need a plan because this was pretty fucking simple and the kids loved me.

"He's the best doctowah in the wold," Little One said as I pulled the BP cuff off of her arm. "He doesn't make anything huwt at all. Can I listen to you heawt, Daddy?

I looked at Bella and she shrugged, so I decided to play along. After Sofia had her chance, little hands flew up, wanting their turn. I amused a few of them, letting them listen to my heart until Bella tapped her watch.

After answering a few ridiculous questions and then a good one from Sofia, I handed out the suckers Bella had bought for me to give and then was done. Simple shit. I really hadn't changed much with my dislike of kids except Little One, but the day wasn't as bad as I'd thought it'd be.

I did like hearing how great I was, after all, and these kids fucking loved me.

"So, did I do well?" I asked Bella after she introduced Charlie.

She smiled, nodding. "Very. Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome. Do I get a reward for it tonight?" I whispered, watching her cheeks flush.

"I am at _work_," she hissed, trying not to laugh.

"I'll take that as a yes," I chuckled. "I have to go, so I'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said before I kissed her quickly.

* * *

When I got home from work that evening, Little One told me all about how I was the best — followed closely by Charlie. As long as she and Bella were happy, I was too. Our weekend passed quickly and we took Sofia to the aquarium in Seattle on Sunday. She had a blast, just like she always did.

It was her favorite place to go, and Bella and I had decided to do as much with her as possible, leading up to the birth of our second child. Our attention would be divided then, and inevitably, she'd get less of it than she was used to. We'd try our hardest to never let her feel left out, though, and would explain to her that the new baby wasn't replacing her. I was afraid she'd feel that way, and I _really _didn't want her to.

When we put her to bed that night, she cuddled with her newest stuffed animal — a whale — and fell asleep quickly. Bella and I went back downstairs to enjoy the rest of the evening and talk about the week ahead of us. It was just two more days until her appointment, and I couldn't fucking wait.

"How do we tell her?" Bella asked, sitting down next to me before I wrapped my arm around her. "I mean, we kind of told her where babies come from when Rosalie was pregnant, so at least we won't have to cover that."

God, that _blew_. My four year old daughter randomly asked me how Auntie got a baby in her belly last year, throwing me completely off guard. I figured we couldn't really lie and use the stork bit, so Bella and I just told her that when parents love each other and want a baby, they're given one. Thankfully, she didn't want more of an explanation; otherwise, I might have killed myself. I _prayed _she wouldn't want a more detailed explanation now.

"To be honest, I'm more worried how she'll react once she realizes it won't just be _us _anymore," I said. "She gets pretty jealous sometimes. I know that's our fault because we spoil her so much, but—"

"_You _spoil her way more than I do," Bella said, smirking.

I sighed, nodding. This was true. "I'm terrified she's going to feel left out."

Bella's hand caressed my chest as she contemplated something for a moment. "She's pretty open with us, so we just need to keep that line of communication open. If she ever feels like she's not getting the attention she needs, I have no doubt she'll tell us. And we'll have to be more in-tune with her. Things _will _change, but our love for her won't. I think we should start off telling her by saying that."

I nodded. "Okay, so we're going to tell her Tuesday?"

"Yes, as long as the doctor says everything looks good. You know, I think she's actually going to be excited when we tell her. The jealousy might come out, but I think it'll be second to the excitement of having her own little sibling."

"I hope so." I smiled, holding her closer. "She did ask if she could have Felix when he was born."

She laughed softly. "The look on your face was priceless. You felt so bad telling her no."

"It's that fucking lip! It just . . . juts out, making her look so damn cute. I can't deny her shit when she does that. I think she learned that from you, actually, Nibbles."

She jutted her lip out, batting her fucking eyelashes. "Will you go get me the Cherry Garcia?"

I rolled my eyes, chuckling. "Sure, but try to get to the bathroom this time. It's too fucking cold to take the trash out if you puke in it."

I stood up from the couch and started walking away when she called out, "And the peanut butter!"

That sounded completely disgusting, but she knew I wouldn't deny her shit. I never could.

* * *

Bella and I both took Tuesday off of work since her appointment was at eleven. We'd told Little One that Mommy and Daddy had an appointment, and she'd accepted it without issue. She hadn't had lunch with Bella at all last week, so it wasn't like she'd miss her. After dropping her off at school, we headed back home and Bella finally showed me a binder she'd been working on.

My eyes grew wide at all the fucking details she'd put into it. Seriously, she color coded shit. There was every question you could possibly ask written down about the baby's health, her health, and our families' medical history. Jesus Christ . . . my wife was a little batshit crazy, but this would come in handy.

"I've been doing a lot of research on what kinds of things to ask and what to expect," Bella said, nibbling on her bottom lip as I flipped through the binder. "I just wanted to be prepared."

I let out a short laugh. "I think you're prepared for every possible thing."

She shrugged. "I'm nervous."

I knew Bella tended to over think when she was nervous, and _this _was even more proof of that. If she asked every single one of these questions, we'd be in the office for hours. I liked that she'd done this, though. It might have been extreme, but it was shit we needed to know. I'd actually done it to a _much _smaller degree.

I pulled my phone from my pocket, opening up my notes and passing it to her. "I'm nervous, too," I said.

She glanced at the list I'd made and a smile formed on her lips. "Thank you, Edward."

I closed the binder on my lap, moving my arm around her to hold her closer. "Between the two of us, Dr. Uley is going to _earn _every cent she bills us for."

She laughed softly, lifting her head to kiss my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too, Nibbles. Now, let's go see our kid."

She just grinned, nodding before standing up from the couch.

* * *

Forks didn't technically have an obstetrician. Bella's doctor had her practice in Port Angeles, but had privileges at both hospitals. Dr. Emily Uley was both a gynecologist and obstetrician, and Bella had been seeing her since shortly after we'd gotten together. She was a little older than me and had taken over the practice from her father-in-law a few years ago. I'd worked with her a few times, and she seemed well trained, but that didn't make me any less nervous.

This woman would be caring for my wife and unborn child, so she needed to be a fucking incredible doctor.

When we got to the office, Bella was quickly called back. Her weight and vitals looked good, so a _little _bit of my worry eased. Not much, though. Once she was put in an exam room and changed into the gown, I sat down beside her and she continued her death grip on my hand. Seriously. She was ridiculously strong for such a small woman.

Was there such a thing as freaky strength associated with pregnancy?

"You know what the ultrasound should look like at eight weeks, right?" Bella asked, looking down at me nervously.

I nodded. "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"You'd tell me if anything didn't look right?"

I moved my thumb over the top of her hand. "It will look perfect, like the blob it should be."

She rolled her eyes as a small smile played on her lips. "Don't call our baby a blob."

"Splotch? Peanut? Odd bean looking thing?"

She laughed loudly as someone knocked on the door. Dr. Uley walked in with a smile and greeted us, shaking our hands before getting down to business. She went over a few questions with Bella first and wrote in the chart. Bella asked a couple of hers before saving the rest for after the exam. Thankfully, the pelvic was quick, and Dr. Uley said everything was normal.

Bella's death gripped tightened once more as Dr. Uley pulled over the machine and explained the transvaginal ultrasound.

"Will we hear the heartbeat?" Bella asked.

Dr. Uley shook her head. "No, eight weeks is a little early to hear it, but we will see it. It'll look like a flicker, and I'll point it out to you."

Bella smiled, nodding. "Okay, at least we can see it."

Our eyes turned to the screen as Dr. Uley started. She made some adjustments to the machine and then . . . there it was. That _perfect _flicker. I was in complete awe — unable to look away from it. That was my baby — _our _baby. I just . . . I couldn't fucking believe it. Seeing that flicker inside our blob made everything so _real_.

Holy shit.

"Edward," Bella laughed. Shit, I said that out loud, didn't I? "That's our baby."

I nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "We're really having a baby."

"Yes, you two certainly are," Dr. Uley said. "Everything looks _great_, Bella. I'm going to take a few measurements and then we'll be done, all right?"

"We need pictures," I said. "As many copies as possible, actually."

"Of course, Dr. Cullen." She smiled before taking the measurements.

I stood up and leaned down, kissing Bella softly. "Thank you, Bella," I said, pulling back. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she said with tears in her eyes as they moved back to the screen. "Can you believe that's our baby?"

I nodded, chuckling softly. "Yeah, it's incredible."

And it really fucking was. It was part me, part her, and completely perfect in every way. I could honestly say this was one of the best moments of my life.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for that wait, and I wish I could say it won't happen again, but I can't. I work with UPS, so the holidays are pretty busy for me. I'll try my hardest to get another chapter completed soon. The same goes for Finding Sunshine, if you're curious about that. Also, I'm going to begin posting a new, partially pre-written Daddyward fic sometime in January, but all of my current fics will take priority.

If I don't post again before Christmas, I hope you all enjoy your holiday!

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!


	4. Few Short Months

I am _so_ incredibly sorry for the wait!

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

After Bella's exam and ultrasound, we spent a good hour in Dr. Uley's office, going over just about every damn question in my wife's binder. If the woman was annoyed by the sheer amount of information we demanded she give us, it didn't show. Each time I butted in with a what if scenario, she just smiled and answered me. I was still scared shitless, but she managed to ease some of my fears.

Bella was healthy, our child was healthy, and now we had seven months to get ready for this kid.

"April twenty-ninth," Bella said, smiling as I chewed my sandwich. Since we still had a little while before picking up Little One from school, we had stopped in at the diner in Forks. "It seems both so far away and like it's right around the corner. I mean, we have _so _much to do and I'm worried it won't all be finished in time."

"It's seven months, Bella," I said. "I'm sure we'll have time to get everything done."

She nodded, picking up the sonogram picture from the table again. I hadn't been able to stop looking at it and neither had she. The little blob in the image was our _child_. It seemed unbelievable that in a few short months, that blob would be in our arms. I'd be a father to another child, but unlike last time, I'd be there for it every step of the way.

It honestly saddened me to think about how I missed this with Little One. If Kate had told me, I'd have been there. I'd have seen her first sonogram picture, felt her kicks, and watched her come into the world. But Kate _didn't _give me that chance. I swore to myself I wouldn't miss any of this pregnancy with Bella. I'd be by her side the entire time and do _anything _she asked.

"It's a boy," she said, glancing up at me. "I can't explain how I know, but I do. It's just this feeling that makes me believe I'm looking at our son."

I smiled, holding my hand out for the picture. Honestly, I didn't know what the hell we were having, but I hoped she was right. I wouldn't trade Sofia for anything in the world, but she'd thrown a huge hissy fit when I tried to throw a football with her. Maybe I'd get a chance to do the things with my son that my dad had done with me

I was fucking thrilled for this child, though, no matter what it was.

"If it's a boy, we're not naming him Edward," I said, smirking.

"What? You don't like your name?" she asked. "I think Edward is a good, strong name for a boy. Or maybe Charlie, like my dad and Carlisle for a middle name."

"Charles Carlisle?" I laughed. "That's practically _begging _for the other kids to beat him up."

Her nose crinkled and then she nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. God, what if we wind up giving him some awful name that he hates? And then he hates us?"

I reached across the table, grasping her hand in mine. "You're not allowed to start freaking out about him hating us yet. I don't think that happens until kids are teenagers, at least. Little One still seems pretty fucking happy with us."

"You're right." A small, devilish smirk spread across her lips. "I guess all I really have to do is make our kids like me more than you. Shouldn't be hard."

"Thanks, Nibbles," I said, shaking my head. "I'll remember that when you tell me we have to be partners."

* * *

While we waited for Little One to get out of school, Bella and I went home and I helped her clean up the house in anticipation of dinner with her dad tonight. When she'd called him after our appointment to make sure he could still come, he'd told her that he wasn't bringing Sue. Surprisingly, she'd immediately told him to bring her. I still wasn't sure if she did it because she wanted to or just felt obligated to.

"So . . . Sue?" I asked as I unloaded the dishwasher while she marinated the steaks for dinner.

"What about her?" she asked.

I cocked my brow as she tried to look clueless. "She doesn't have to come, Bella."

"Why does everyone think I don't like her? Yeah, it's weird to see my dad with someone, but that doesn't mean I hate her."

"Your eyes about bulged out of your head when she hugged you last time we were at your dad's," I laughed. "You looked like you just remembered you'd forgotten to turn the fucking stove off or something."

"It was surprising!"

"It was hilarious, actually, but that's beside the point."

She sighed, putting her hands on the counter. "It's just . . . he never dated — not once, Edward. He always held this beautiful love for my mom, even though she'd left him. I never thought he'd find someone. I _do_ want him to be happy and I _don't _dislike Sue, but seeing them together is going to take some time to adjust to. I want them to be together, though, so she needs to come. I need to get to know her and what better time than now?"

I nodded, closing the dishwasher with my foot as I dried my hands off. "I think it's great of you to invite her," I said. I walked across the kitchen, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her neck. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right with it."

"I am. I'm just . . . nervous, I guess. I promise not to freak out if she hugs me again"

I chuckled. "That's a good goal. Now, what's next?"

While she finished marinating the steaks, I went into the living room and cleaned up Little One's toys that were laying around and then changed out the laundry for her. When it was time to go get Sofia, we went together to pick her up. Of course she demanded to know what we did today. I'd go as far as to calling it a fucking inquisition.

"We'll tell you when we get home, okay?" Bella asked, turning her head to look back at Little One.

"Is it something bad?" she asked. "Did I do something wong?"

"No, baby," I said. "Just be patient, all right?"

"Am I getting a puppy?" She grinned, bouncing in her seat. "Is it at home?"

Apparently I laughed a little too loudly because Bella shot me a look. There was no way in _hell_ she was getting a puppy. I couldn't say no to Little One often, but that was an easy one. Even Bella — who was actually _for _it — couldn't convince me otherwise. I knew full well that I'd be the one cleaning up shit in the house and yard, and that wasn't happening.

"Sorry," I said, smiling sheepishly at Bella. "No, Little One, it's not a puppy. It's _better_."

That made her grin stretch even wider and the questions come faster. Once we got home, Little One wasn't letting us get out of telling her right away, so we all sat down on the couch together. Jesus, I was scared shitless. I had no clue how she'd react to this, but I prayed she'd be happy.

"We love you more than _anything _in the world," Bella said, smiling as Little One looked at her curiously from my lap. "Nothing will ever change that — I promise — but we have some really good news to tell you about, which will change things around here."

"What's gonna happen?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Well, Mommy and I went to the doctor today," I said, trying to prepare myself for what her reaction may be. There was really no possible way to, though. "In a couple of months, we're going to have a baby, which means you'll be a big sister."

Her mouth fell open and I felt my heart hammer against my chest. "Like Felix?"

I nodded. "Maybe or it could be a baby girl. It'll definitely be different around here, but like Mommy said, this baby won't change how much we love you. We'll always be here for you."

"Do I get to play with it?"

Bella laughed softly, nodding. "Of course, sweet girl."

"Where's it at?"

"It's in Mommy's belly right now," I said, taking her hand and pressing it to Bella's lower stomach. "You can't feel it yet, but it's in here and will grow for a few months until it's ready to come out."

Her eyes were wide as she looked up at Bella. "Did it get in thewah like Felix did with Auntie? You gonna get a big belly, too?"

"Yes, I will," Bella giggled as a smirk spread across my lips, imagining trying to get off of the couch like Rosalie had. Fucking. Hilarious. "Daddy and I love each other very much, and we wanted to have another baby to love — like Auntie and Uncle Em did. Do you remember when we talked about that?"

She shrugged. "Kinda, but . . . how did it get in thewah? Did Daddy put it in thewah?"

I watched as Bella cheeks flushed lightly, and I swear to God, mine were probably doing the same fucking thing. She couldn't make this simple, could she? Last time we'd discussed this, she just accepted the whole usual bit. Damn kid was too curious for her own good now . . . for _my _own good.

"Yes, he did," Bella said, trying to keep a straight face. "When people love each other, they do things to express that love."

"Like kiss?" Little One asked, scrunching her nose as she looked up at me. "You kissed Mommy and put a baby in hewah belly?"

"Yes, yes, I did," I lied, nodding. "That's why only grownups kiss."

"How's the baby gonna get out?"

_Fuck my motherfucking life_. I was _not _explaining childbirth to my five year old kid. Not a chance in hell.

"Well, when it's ready, I'm going to go to the hospital with Daddy," Bella said. "It'll be born there, and then you'll get to meet it."

"And I can hold it?"

"Of course!" She smiled. "You're going to get to do lots of things with it, and you'll be able to hold it whenever you want. It'll love hearing you talk to it, too. Even now, I'm sure it'd love to hear your voice."

"It can heawah me?" she asked, completely shocked. God, she was so fucking adorable.

"Yep, so do you want to tell it anything?" I asked.

She nodded, sliding off of the couch. She put her mouth against Bella's stomach and said, "You gonna be a guwl. We gonna play and dwess up and I'm gonna play with you haiwah. Auntie won't let me put bows in Felix's haiwah, so I'm gonna put 'em in yous, like my baby dolls."

I narrowed my eyes at Bella as she laughed. Sofia kept going, though, telling the baby that obviously couldn't _actually _hear her all the things they'd do. I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. She was _happy_. Sure, she didn't truly realize what a new baby would mean, but the fact that right now she was happy about it thrilled me to no end. Jealousy would most certainly come at some point, but for now, I laid back and smiled, watching my little one caress my wife's flat belly and talk to our unborn child.

* * *

"You can't tell Grandpa about the baby yet, all right, Little One?" I asked, trying to prepare her since Charlie and Sue would be here any minute. "We're telling them tonight, but it needs to be Mommy who tells them. Can you keep it a secret for me?"

"Yep, I can do it! I pwomise I won't tell," she said, nodding. I leaned in, kissing her cheek as she giggled. "That tickles, Daddy! You scwuffy."

"Scruffy, huh?" I picked her up, resting her on my hip as I walked with her back into the kitchen where Bella was finishing things up. "Mommy doesn't think I'm scruffy. Maybe you're just ticklish?"

Bella smiled subtly at our daughter as she wiped her hands on a towel, moving across the kitchen to us. "I think we should test this out," she said.

Little One buried her face in my neck, giggling as she said, "No! Please, Mommy?"

The doorbell rang as Bella's fingers moved across Little One's back. "Saved by the bell, baby," I laughed, putting her down. "Let's go see Grandpa."

She ran ahead of me as I gave Bella a quick kiss. "Ready?" I asked, pulling back and taking her hand.

She nodded, smiling. "I can't wait to tell him. Maybe we should do that first? Sofia won't keep her mouth shut long."

I laughed as I heard the door open. "True. It'll probably be the first word out of her mouth, actually, so we better run."

When we walked into the living room, Charlie had Little One in his arms as she hugged him tightly. Sue was standing beside him, smiling as she watched them. She really was a kind woman, and Sofia loved her already. Then again, my kid loved everyone and everyone loved her.

"Hi, sweetheart," she said as Charlie put Little One back on her feet. Sue leaned down and they hugged for a moment as Bella hugged her dad. "We brought you something."

"Nothing big," Charlie said, handing me a bottle of wine as Sue gave Little One the little pink bag in her hand. "Sue had made her something, so she wanted to bring it."

"Thank you, Sue," Bella said, smiling as she moved closer and put her arms out. The embrace was quick and clearly awkward as hell, but I didn't miss Charlie's smile as he watched them.

Like Little One was to me, Bella was Charlie's whole world. He never wanted to hurt her, which was probably why he never tried to date when she was younger and also why he was worried about bringing Sue tonight. It all seemed good so far, though, which was all I cared about. Tonight was _huge_, so I didn't want anything to upset Bella.

"I hope you're hungry because I may have made too much food," Bella laughed softly as we walked into the dining room.

"No such thing," Charlie said as Little One led him over to the chair next to hers.

"Do you need any help?" Sue asked.

"It's actually done, but you can help me bring it out, if you'd like."

Sue nodded, following Bella into the kitchen as I took a seat. Little One was too busy playing with her new bracelet that Sue had made to spill the beans, which I was thankful for. The kid couldn't keep a secret worth shit.

"Did you talk to Bells?" Charlie asked quietly, leaning forward toward me. "It means a whole hell of a lot to Sue that Bella invited her."

I shook my head. "No, I didn't say a thing. She wants to get to know her. It's just weird to her, you know?"

He nodded, sighing. "Yeah, I know. I wasn't sure about bringing Sue, even though Bella told me to, but . . . she's important to me."

"Bella knows, so she wants to try," I said just before Bella and Sue came back into the room, carrying two large dishes. I quickly stood, going back to grab the other bowls for her. As we started to eat, Little One caught Charlie up on school and made sure to tell him how _cool_ — her word, not mine — he had been at career day. Sue joined in on the conversation, asking Sofia different questions about her favorite things.

"Did you see, Mommy?" Little One asked, holding out her wrist across the table to show off the chain linked bracelet with little wooden and gem charms. "It's _sooo_ pwetty!"

Bella nodding, smiling. "It's beautiful, sweetie. You did you a great job, Sue."

"Thank you. Charlie told me Sofia loved pink, so I thought I'd make her a little something. I hope you don't mind."

I sat there quietly — probably just as nervous as Charlie — as they discussed the bracelet. Sure, it wasn't much, but at least they were getting along. I couldn't imagine what it felt like for Bella to see her dad with someone after so long, but it made me happy that she was trying to get to know the woman. After all, Charlie had pretty much accepted me into the family, so I hoped Bella would do the same for him.

"This is amazing, Bells," Charlie said, cutting his steak. "You didn't have to go to so much work."

"It wasn't hard, but thank you," she said as her hand clasped around mine over the table. "So . . . we actually have some news."

He looked up, creasing his brow. "News?"

She smiled, nodding as she took a deep breath. "Yeah, we're, uh . . . we're having a baby. I'm pregnant."

His eyes went wide as his lip curled into a smile. "Baby? I'm going to be a grandpa again?"

She nodded as I watched her hand move to her stomach. "I'm due in April."

"Oh my goodness!" Sue said, grinning. "That's wonderful! Congratulations."

"I'm gonna be a big sister, Gampy!" Little One said. "Daddy kissed Mommy and put a baby in her!"

Charlie laughed with the rest of us, looking down at Little One next to him — between he and Sue. "Did he now? Well . . . that's good. Are you excited, Pumpkin Head?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yep! And I didn't tell him, Daddy! Like I pwomised!"

"I know, baby," I laughed.

"Oh, Bells," Charlie said, looking back across the table. "My baby's having a baby. Come here." They both stood and Bella walked around the table to him. He pulled her against his chest, hugging her tightly. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you, Daddy," she said, sniffling as she pulled away and I stood. "I couldn't wait to tell you, but I wanted to make sure everything was okay first. We received good news today from the doctor."

"So it's okay?"

She nodded, wiping her tears. "Yes, it's perfect."

Charlie clasped his hand on my shoulder and said, "Congratulations, son," before shocking the hell out of me by putting his arm around me for a brief moment.

"Thank you, sir," I said as we pulled away. "I actually have a picture."

I pulled the folded up photo out of my pocket, holding it out to him. He just grinned, looking between it and his daughter. Of course Little One wanted a piece of the action, so she put her hand on Bella's stomach.

"It can heawah us, Gampy," she said. "Hi, baby."

"I'm sure it likes hearing it's big sister," he said before looking up at me. "Can I keep this?"

I nodded as Sue came to stand beside him and looked at the photo. "Yeah, we have plenty of copies."

"I'm so happy for you both," Sue said. "Thank you so much for including me tonight. If you need anything, I'd be happy to help."

Bella wiped her tears that had continued to fall and embraced her. "Thank you, that means a lot."

Once the hugging had stopped — which actually continued for longer than I realized it would — we sat back down and finished dinner, discussing the new baby. The due date seemed so far away right now, and I couldn't wait for it.

"I just realized I never asked if you had kids," Bella said, looking at Sue.

"I don't," she said. "I was married for a few years, but he passed away young and we never had children. My sister has four, though, so I'd gotten to spend many years spoiling them."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

Sue smiled lightly, clasping her hand around Charlie's over the table. "Thank you, Bella. It's taken me a long time, but I'm moving on now. Your father is a wonderful man."

Bella glanced at Charlie and nodded. "Yeah, he is. I hope I can get to know you better. If I've seemed . . . upset, I'm really sorry."

"It's understandable, dear. Thank you again for letting me share this wonderful night with you."

"We're happy you could come," I said.

"So, when exactly am I getting my grandson?" Charlie asked, chuckling.

"It's not a boy, Gampy!" Little One said. "I askeded it to be a guwl, so it's gonna be that."

* * *

** A/N: **I really have no excuse for the long wait. After Christmas I thought it wouldn't be hard to get back to writing, but this chapter was just a pain for some reason. I'm hopefully back on track now! Thank you for sticking with me, and I really hope you enjoyed the chapter.

You all are so amazing. Truly, thank you.


	5. Feel Better

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

"You're enjoying that cup of coffee a little too much there, Nibbles," I said, smirking as I watched Bella inhale another deep breath of her mug.

"Shut up, we're having a moment," she said as her fingers caressed the mug. She mouthed something along the lines of, "I love you," to the cup and I had to stifle my laugh.

Dr. Uley told her she could have a limited amount of caffeine a day, so Bella took pleasure in the one cup every morning. If it wasn't for the fact that I'd gotten laid last night, I'd have been jealous of a fucking coffee mug. After pouring myself a cup, I sat down beside her at the counter and pulled out my phone, making sure I hadn't missed anything urgent through the night.

"Is Little One up yet?" I asked, glancing over at Bella who was still eye-fucking the mug.

She shook her head as she took a slow sip. "No, I'm going to get her up after I finish this. It's almost gone."

I chuckled at her pout and then leaned over, kissing her softly. "I think you'll live."

"I think you should be limited to as much caffeine as I'm allowed to have," she said, rolling her eyes before downing the last sip. "What's your day like?"

"I have follow-ups, but that's it. I can probably pick Sofia up from school, if you want. You have that meeting, right?"

Since her due date was in April, Bella had to work things out with the school and figure out when she could start her maternity leave. It may have been my overprotective side, but I didn't want her working up until her due date like she was considering.

She nodded as she walked over to the sink. "Yes, but it's not until four. If you could pick Sofia up, though, that'd be great. She has ballet tonight, too."

I nodded, and then we talked a little more before she went upstairs to wake Little One up while I headed to the bathroom get a shower. Bella still had another week before her first trimester was over, but so far, everything had been going amazingly well. Her morning sickness happened less and less and she was starting to get a little more energy back.

After we'd told Charlie about the pregnancy, Bella gave me the go-ahead to tell Jasper, so we had him and Alice over for dinner a few weeks ago. Though we didn't work together anymore, he was still my best friend and we hung out often. He and Alice married a few months before Bella and I had. They had plans for big family but, sadly, they weren't successful. They were now in the process of adoption, so Bella was a little worried about telling them we were having another baby. Of course they were happy for us, though, so she'd worried needlessly.

As I turned the water on to get a shower, a knock on the bathroom door stopped me. "Edward, Sofia's sick," Bella said.

I threw my boxers back on and opened the door. "What's wrong?" I asked, trying not to freak the fuck out. I still wasn't good with my Little One being sick. Every worst case scenario possible always ran through my mind, even though Sofia had been a pretty healthy child.

Bella sighed. "She says her tummy hurts and she feels a little warm to me. Will you check her out while I call the school? I have to get a sub and reschedule my meeting."

I shook my head as I pulled a shirt over my head. There was no way in hell I was leaving Bella to take care of Sofia. The last thing we needed was for Bella to get sick right now. Her immune system was already compromised because of the pregnancy. "I'll stay home with her," I said. "I don't want you around her if she's contagious."

She cocked her head. "I'm around sick kids all the time."

She did have a point, but . . . I still didn't want her around Little One constantly while she was sick. If they both came down with something, my life would be a living hell. "Just let me take care of her, all right? You have that meeting anyway. I'll call the hospital and get my follow-ups rescheduled. It's fine."

She sighed, but nodded. "Okay, but when she's sick, she's _very _particular. If you give her soup, it has to be chicken noodle, but you have to spoon the actual pieces of chicken out — she just likes the broth and noodles. And when her belly hurts, you have to massage it in a soft, circular motion. She likes that. Also she—"

I chuckled, pulling her into my chest to keep her from going on and on — like she _really _would. "I know how to take care of her, all right? We'll be fine. When you get a few minutes today, call me and I'll let you know how she's doing."

She nodded against my chest, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "All right, all right . . . I know you can take care of her. I guess I'm just being a little . . ."

"Mom-ish?"

She looked up at me, smiling softly. "Pretty much."

"I'm going to go check her out while you get ready. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said before I dipped my head to kiss her.

While she got ready for work, I grabbed my bag from the closet and headed into Sofia's room across the hall. I fucking _hated _seeingmy baby was sick, and when I got into her room and she looked up at me — pouty lips and those big, green eyes — my heart about broke. I sat down on her bed and laid my hand against her forehead, feeling the slight fever.

"Mommy said your tummy hurts," I said. "Is that it?"

"I think I'm gonna thow up," she whimpered, wrapping her arms tighter around her stomach.

I quickly grabbed the waste basket beside her bed and got it under her chin before she tossed her fucking cookies. As she cried, I rubbed her back and brushed her bangs from her forehead.

"You're okay," I soothed, moving closer to her. "Just get it all out."

"It's huwts," she sniffled. "I don't wanna be sick."

"I don't want you to be sick either, Little One. We'll get through this, though, all right? Daddy's going to take care of you."

She nodded and pushed the waste basket away from her. After putting it down on the floor, I pulled the thermometer from my bag and slid it into her ear for the few seconds it took to register. I was relieved to find she only had a low grade fever, just below one-hundred degrees.

"Can Daddy take a look at your belly?"

Her bottom lip quivered, but she laid back down for me anyway. "Don't make it huwt, please?"

I leaned down, kissing her forehead before moving the blankets down. "I'll try my hardest, okay? I promise."

I lifted her pajama shirt and examined her abdomen, finding her somewhat bloated, but not shockingly so. After making sure her wasn't experiencing any tenderness where I pressed, I pulled her shirt back down and the blanket up over her shoulders once more. All signs pointed to a simple case of gastroenteritis, but I planned to watch her carefully throughout the day to make sure it wasn't something more serious.

"Well?" Bella asked, coming into the room. "How's our girl?"

"Stomach virus, I think," I said, brushing my hand through Little One's hair. "I'll keep her home today and hopefully she'll be feeling a little better tomorrow. If she's not, I'll call her pediatrician. She just needs to stay hydrated and rest."

Bella came around to the other side of Sofia's bed and sat down, taking our girl's hand in hers. "Does spending the day with Daddy sound okay, sweet girl?"

Little One shrugged. "I guess so, but no doctowah, okay? I don't wanna go."

"Hopefully you won't have to. Last I heard, Daddy's _pretty _good with illness." Bella smiled, holding her arms out. "Give Mommy a hug goodbye. I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy," she said, hugging Bella.

* * *

After Bella left for work, I got Little One into the bathroom to brush her teeth while I pulled some pillows and blankets from her bed to set her up downstairs on the couch with me. Bella was always the one to take care of her, so before she'd left, she wrote me a list of things to do. Most were obvious and things she'd already told me, but she was extremely specific about how Sofia liked to be attached to her, so I'd have to be a good substitute.

After getting some Pedialyte out and ready for her, I went back upstairs to check on Little One. "Baby, are you ready to come downstairs?" I asked, pushing open the bathroom door, only to find her on the floor in front of the damn toilet. "Again, huh?"

"Make it stop, please?" she begged, looking up at me with tears in her eyes.

I sighed, leaning down next to her and cleaning off her face. The morning passed pretty much the same with trips to the bathroom in between watching cartoons and snuggling into my side. I gave her some medicine, but it wasn't doing much good. If she wasn't any better by tonight, I planned to get her something stronger to prevent the vomiting. She was so fucking miserable, which only made me feel like shit for not being able to help her. I did my best trying to keep her hydrated with Pedialyte, but she fought me each time I pressed the cup into her hand.

"It's gonna make me thow up!" she whined, scowling at me.

I tried to explain the logic of it that it'd absorb into her system quickly to keep her hydrated, but she didn't want to hear that shit, of course. She would probably throw up and have to go to the bathroom more today.

"You might get sick again, but if you don't drink it, you _will _get sicker. You don't want to go to the doctor, remember? If you get dehydrated, we'll have to go."

She pouted, but it seemed I scared her enough and she held her hand out for it. Well, now I felt even worse for scaring her. "Just small sips," I said. "Thank you."

She huffed before handing the cup back to me. I put it down on the table and then pulled her into my lap, cradling her against my chest. I kiss her forehead over and over as she let out a soft, barely recognizable giggle.

"That's my girl," I said, smiling. "Now, how about a princess movie?"

"_Tangled_?"

"You haven't had enough of that yet?" I laughed, shaking my head. I couldn't count the number of times she'd seen that damn movie, but I was getting sick of it.

She shook her head, giving me a small smile. "It's my favowite, and afta we watch that, I wanna watch the kitties, okay?"

"_Aristocats_?"

"Yep, it's Mommy's favowite and I like it!"

"All right then," I said, moving her over to the cushion beside me. "I'll go grab the movies while you have a few more sips. Deal?"

She huffed dramatically and held her hand out for the cup. "Fine."

Our afternoon continued just like our morning, but I got a couple smiles out of Little One, which made cleaning vomit off of me a little easier. Not much, though. I hated that she was sick, but spending the day cuddling with my little one was probably my favorite thing in the world. She wouldn't leave my lap unless she had to and she gave me many kisses on the cheek throughout the day. Her stomach cramping made her cry, so I did as Bella said and rubbed my hand over her belly. Eventually, she fell asleep to that.

By the time Bella got home from her meeting, Sofia hadn't been sick for a few hours, so we tried some soup. She sat between the two of us, cautiously spooning the tiniest amount of broth possible into her mouth.

"Do you think she'll keep this down?" Bella asked, looking over Sofia's head to me.

I shrugging, sighing. "She's been sick a _lot _today, but not for the past few hours. She napped a good amount, so I'm hoping the worst of it has passed. If she doesn't keep it down, though, I'm going to run to the hospital for some Zofran."

Bella nodded, running her hand over Little One's back. "Does it taste okay, baby?"

"Uh-huh," Little One mumbled.

"Did you and Daddy watch movies?"

"He let me watch _Tangled, _the kitties, and _Up_. And he held me, too. I thew up on him, but he didn't get mad."

She smiled, looking up at me. "Of course he didn't, sweetheart. Why don't you tell me about _Up_, hmm? It's been a while since we watched that."

While she told Bella more about the movie and our day, Little One managed to eat almost half of the bowl of soup. Unfortunately, it didn't stay down for long. I checked her out again and all signs still pointed to a stomach virus, so I left her with Bella and made a quick trip to the hospital pharmacy for the prescription medication.

To be honest, I was getting pretty fucking worried. It was hard to remind myself that this was just a bad case of gastroenteritis when every other diagnosis popped into my head. So hard, in fact, that I decided to call my dad.

He'd talked me off of the ledge many times before when Sofia was sick with something, so I hoped he could do the same again. I told him all of her symptoms, how long she'd been sick for, how many times, and every other little thing I could think of.

Like I already knew, he told me that it was a stomach virus and I'd just have to wait for it to pass.

"I know," I sighed, turning into our driveway. "I guess I just . . . needed your opinion."

"Just give her the medicine and keep an eye on her, all right? I'm sure she'll be better in the morning, and the Zofran will help her keep fluids down and stay hydrated. I'm positive you don't have _anything _to worry about, son."

"Okay, thanks, Dad. I'll let you know how she is in the morning."

"Please do. If it's any consolation, I swear it gets less terrifying with the second kid."

"That's good to know," I chuckled. "I just got home, so I'll let you off of here."

"Okay, give her a kiss for us. We love you, son."

"Love you too," I said, hanging up the phone and closing the garage door behind me.

When I got back inside, I found Sofia and Bella still in the living room. My wife had our little girl wrapped up in a blanket, holding her in her lap.

"She's miserable, Edward," Bella said, frowning as she looked down at Little One. "Twice since you've been gone. That's not normal, is it?"

I placed the brown bag with the medicine on the coffee table and sat down beside them, laying my hand against Sofia's forehead. She was still a little warm, but her fever hadn't gone up any.

"The soup just didn't sit well with her," I said. "This medicine will help, though. Dad thinks it's a stomach virus too, so it just has to pass."

She nodded, running her hand through our daughter's hair. "Let's sit up and take this medicine, sweetie."

"I don't like pills," Little One said, pouting.

"Good thing I got the liquid kind then, huh? Daddy knows this stuff." I smiled, grabbing the bag as Bella sat her up.

Once I'd given her the medicine, I fucking prayed she would keep it down. Five minutes passed, then ten, and twenty and she managed to keep it down.

Thank fucking god.

We spend the rest of the evening on the couch. Little One was content to sleep on my lap with her legs on Bella, and made a fuss each time I woke her up to drink some of the Pedialyte. We finally put her into her own bed around midnight and headed to our room, keeping both doors open so we could hear her.

"So, how did the meeting go?" I asked once we'd settled into bed.

Bella rested her head against my chest and sighed. "My maternity leave starts a month before my due date. I figured that'd give me enough time to get all the little things done like wash clothes and finish up the nursery — which I want to start setting up once we know what we're having."

"A month is good." I nodded. "I just want you to be happy, but I don't want you to be too stressed."

"We have a five year old daughter," she laughed. "I'm stressed every day, just like you. It'll be fine, Edward. I haven't decided for sure, but I might take next year off."

I grinned, knowing that if she said it, she'd probably do it. It wasn't that I I didn't want her working, but . . . Yeah, I kind of didn't. At least not right away. I knew she _could_ do it, but I also knew how much she enjoyed being home with Little One for the first few years. "You can do whatever you want. I'll support you."

She smirked, rolling her eyes. "Don't look so happy. I'll go back to work eventually, but I really want to do what I did with Sofia. We had those first few years to connect, and I want that with this baby, too. Plus, it'll make it easier because I'll be able to take Sofia to her after school programs and spend more time with her, too. She's done great so far, hasn't she? I mean, she hasn't been jealous at all."

"She's been amazing. I'm sure the moment she feels better, she'll go right back to kissing your stomach and talking to the baby," I chuckled.

"I hope so. I missed that today."

I dipped my head, kissing her forehead. "I haven't gotten to talk to it today either, you know. Roll over."

She laughed, but did as I asked. I moved down her body, laying my head against her stomach. She wasn't showing yet, of course and the only way her body looked any different was her boobs.

Best fucking thing in the world.

"Hi," I said, caressing her stomach. "Thanks for the boobs."

"God, Edward," she laughed, smacking me in the head. "You thank it every single day."

"They're great boobs!" I smirked. "Anyway, I can't wait to see you again in a few weeks. We get to stop calling you 'it' then, so that'll be nice. I'll try not to be so neurotic when you get sick, but I can't make any promises. You can complain to Sofia about it. I love you already . . . more and more every day, actually. I can't wait to meet you."

I kissed her stomach before lifting my head, finding Bella crying . . . Like she did every night I talked to our unborn child. I always said about the same thing, but her hormones still got to her.

"I love you, Bella," I said, pressing my lips to hers.

"I love you, too," she said, smiling as we parted. "Thank you for taking care of our girl today. She told me that even though she didn't feel well, you made her happy. She loves daddy cuddles."

"Well, I love Little One cuddles."

"You're an amazing father. How you ever doubted that I'll never understand."

"You have to admit it that it was a _little _rocky in the beginning."

She shook her head. "No, you just had some things to learn, which you caught on to pretty fast. I can't wait to have another baby with you."

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	6. Full of Love

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

"No."

"But, Edward—"

"_No_."

I would do almost _anything _for Sofia, but there was absolutely no fucking way I was doing this. It was humiliating, embarrassing, and just . . . _awful_. So fucking awful. Last Halloween was bad too, but at least not this bad. Bella and I were vampires and Little One was a witch. The year before I didn't go because I had to work — thank fucking god. And before that, we didn't dress up because Sofia didn't really care.

Now she cared, though.

More like _demanded_.

"It'll break her heart if you don't do this," Bella said, giving me those fucking eyes. They went all big and basically pleaded for me to do what she wanted.

"I'll lie and say I have to work late."

"And then she'll be mad at you."

Little One would be _pissed_, but . . . maybe I could deal with it. Make it up to her with something. All I knew was that there was zero chance in hell I was going to be the fucking scarecrow from _Wizard of Oz_ for Halloween.

"Why do we have to fucking coordinate?" I asked, sitting down on the bed. "I'm a grown ass man and yeah, I love my kid, but . . . this is a little out of hand."

"She _really _wants this. Do you think I want to squeeze myself into a dress to be Glinda? Because I don't, but she wants to be Dorothy so much, Edward. Will you please just do it for me? I talked her out of putting you in tights. She wanted you to be Prince Charming."

Jesus Christ, I would have killed myself.

She sat down on the bed next to me, rubbing my back. They'd gone out today to pick up costumes because Little One waited until the last minute to decide. Halloween was in three days, and I'd made sure to schedule the night off so I could go with them around the neighborhood.

Now I wished I hadn't.

"If I do this, we avoid everyone I work with and your dad's house, got it?" I asked.

She laughed. "We have to go to Dad's house, but we can avoid everyone else. We'll stay in his neighborhood, all right?"

I sighed, but nodded. Fuck my life. I was _actually _going to do this. Why couldn't I be a vampire again? At least then I got to wear fangs. "Fine, but when we're old, she better put us in a nice home. No cheap place where I get bed sores."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "I think we have a while before we have to worry about that."

I placed my hand against her cheek, pulling her lips to mine and kissing her softly. I still didn't want to do this, but now she kind of owed me.

It was always good when she owed me.

"Now, let's to carve some pumpkins," she said, smiling. "Stop scowling at get in the kitchen."

She pulled me up and I squeezed her ass she as she led the way. Little One was patiently sitting at the counter, flipping through the book with the pumpkin designs. She grinned, showing off the gap where one of her baby teeth had fallen out yesterday.

"So, what'd you get with your tooth fairy money?" I asked, sitting down next to her. Bella handed me some newspaper, and I started spreading it out over the counter.

"A colowing book and mawkers," she said excitedly, climbing down off of the stool, tripping in the process but she steadied herself before face-planting. She quickly ran out of the living room with such fucking enthusiasm.

"I gave her a little extra money," Bella said. "I didn't think you'd mind."

I shrugged, chuckling lightly. "We can teach her about that some other day. Did she say thank you?"

"Of course she did. By the way, the gigantic pumpkins she picked are in the car, so I decided you could carry them in."

Once Little One showed me her new princess coloring book and markers, I went out to grab the gigantic — Bella didn't exaggerate that — pumpkins and we started carving. Sofia made sure to tell me I was going to be the most handsome scarecrow in the world, so I forgave her for making me wear the damn costume.

Well, I had forgiven her until I actually had to put the fucking thing on a few days later to go trick-or-treating. Fuck my motherfucking life was completely appropriate here. At least I wasn't suffering alone, though. Bella had started showing — just a small, beautiful bump — so she didn't find it comfortable to squeeze into the dress.

Little One, on the other hand, was the happiest fucking kid in the world. We held her hand, leading her to every house in Charlie's neighborhood. He was an asshole, by the way and laughed his ass off at me. Sofia glared at him, though, so that helped a little.

At every house she went to, Little One clicked the red, plastic kid's heels together and the occupants adored her, giving her way too much candy. She had a blast, so I eventually did forget about how ridiculous I looked because she was happy, which was all that mattered.

* * *

"Five pieces," Little One said, crossing her arms over her chest as I sorted through her candy, making sure it was fine.

"Two."

She huffed at my counter offer and looked up at Bella as she pouted. "Mommy, can I _please _have five pieces tonight?"

I had to laugh. She didn't get what she wanted from me, so she went to her mom. She'd been playing both sides for a while now, but we'd learned. United front and all that shit.

"I think two is plenty for tonight, sweetie," Bella said, stretching out on the floor beside me.

We'd changed out of our costumes the minute we got home, but Little One was still wearing hers. I wouldn't have been surprised if she tried to sleep in it tonight. Kid _was _the most adorable Dorothy there'd ever been.

"Thwee?" Sofia asked. "Please? I'll even let you guys have some."

I laughed, picking up a piece and unwrapping it, popping it in my mouth. "I'm allowed to have as many as I want."

"No!" she shrieked, diving at me and pressing her hands on either side of my face. "Mommy, tell him it's mine!"

"We share, remember?" Bella asked. "But you know, Edward, you're supposed to ask."

She smirked as I tried to chew the tootsie roll, though Sofia was making it a little difficult. Once I'd swallowed it, I said, "I'm sorry. Can Daddy have one?"

She narrowed her eyes, huffing. "You alweady had it. I get thwee now."

Fair was fair, I suppose. Three was better than five, so Bella and I gave in and let her pick out her pieces before we put everything back in the bag and up on top of the fridge, so she couldn't get to it. She made out like a fucking bandit, so I didn't feel bad about grabbing a few more pieces before putting it away.

I'd share with my Nibbles, though.

Once Bella had gotten her into the bath and we put her in bed, I read Sofia her story as she drifted off. After being sick a few weeks ago, she was back to her perfectly happy, exuberant self. Thank fuck, too, because I was beside myself with worry when she'd woken up sick again that night. Another dose of the Zofran helped immensely, but I'd kept her home the next day, too.

"Is she out cold in a candy induced coma?" Bella asked, smiling as I joined her in bed. She laid her book down in her lap and rubbed her hand over her small bump.

"She'd have tried to eat that whole damn bag tonight if we'd let her," I laughed. "Three pieces wasn't enough."

"You gave her another, didn't you?"

I smirked, shrugging. "Yeah, but I made her brush her teeth again. Now, I think you owe me a favor."

I stretched out beside her, taking her book and laying it out the nightstand as I pressed my lips to hers. Her hand weaved through my hair, moaning as the kiss deepened.

Yep, I was totally getting laid tonight.

Fuck yes.

* * *

"How much longer 'til it comes out?" Little One asked, laying her hands on Bella's stomach.

With how small Bella was, her bump at sixteen weeks was quite obvious, and Sofia was fucking _fascinated _by it. She couldn't keep her hands off of it, so once we sat down on the couch after dinner, she forgot all about her toys and went straight for it. She stood between Bella's legs, wide-eyed as she lifted Bella's shirt up.

"It's going to be a while, sweetheart," Bella said. "When's April?"

"Afta March."

I couldn't help but grin at her corrected pronunciation of March. It was a fairly new development, and the first time she actually said a word with an R in it correctly, I had to do a double take. I'd actually kind of freaked her out because she didn't even realize it at first. I'd swept her up into my arms, making her say it over and over as I acted like a fucking idiot with my enthusiasm. She wasn't perfect yet by any means, but the speech therapy had started to do its job.

"Right," I said. "And it's November now, so how many months is that?"

She lifted her hands, counting the months. "Um . . . six?"

"Think of it like this, sweetie," Bella said, counting on her hands for Little One's benefit. "November to December is one full month, then December to January is two, January to February is three, February to March is four, and then March to April is five. So, we have about five months to go. That's not really that long, is it?"

"Yeah-huh," Sofia said, rolling her eyes. "Can it come sooner? I wanna know if I'm getting a bwother or sister."

"It's got to grow, Little One," I said. "It needs all of those months to grow strong enough. While it's in mommy, she's giving it everything it needs, so that when it's time for it to come, it'll be healthy. But, we will know in a few weeks if it's a boy of girl. Mommy's doctor is going to do another sonogram. You know that funny looking picture on the fridge?"

"Uh-huh. The black and white one." She nodded.

"Yep, so Mommy's doctor is going to do another one of those, and we should be able to see if it's a boy or girl."

"Can I see my picture in Mommy's belly?"

My eyes widened as I looked to Bella. Son of a bitch, I hadn't even thought of her asking about Bella being pregnant with her. Not once in Little One's entire life had we talked to her about Bella adopting her. She was so young when it happened that she didn't even realize what was going on.

"We didn't get one," I lied.

"Edward," Bella whispered as Little One looked curiously between us. "Maybe?"

No.

_Fuck_ _no_.

I _never _wanted Sofia to know that Bella wasn't her biological mother. We'd talked about it, and decided we wouldn't bring it up. At least not while she was this little. After all, what five-year-old looked at their mom and realized that she didn't have the same nose, lips, or ears? Little One looked like me. She _prided _herself on looking like her daddy.

"Why don't you have it?" Little One asked, cocking her head. "You have the baby's."

"We'll go try to find it, okay, baby?" Bella said, forcing a smile. "Why don't you play while we go look?"

She nodded, her curls of hair bouncing as she grinned. "Okay! Please find it. I wanna see!"

"Let's talk," Bella whispered before standing up and grabbing my hand.

I could feel myself clenching my jaw as I followed her upstairs. What Kate did still pissed me off anytime I thought of it. It always would, too. Was I happy to not have her in our lives? Yeah . . . I was, but that didn't change the fact that what she did hurt my daughter — even if Sofia didn't know it. She _abandoned _her. She didn't love her own flesh and blood. How she didn't love the sweetest, most perfect child in the world was the most insane thing in the world to me.

We'd never had any more contact after we left New York, and that was fine by me.

"She's going to remember this, Edward," Bella said, closing our bedroom door behind her as I fell onto the bed, putting my face in my hands. "One day when she does find out — because you _know _we can't hide this forever — she's going to think back to this day and realize we lied to her. I . . . I kind of thought this baby might bring this up, so I've been doing some reading."

My head shot up as I narrowed my eyes. "You thought about this and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't know for sure!" she whispered harshly. "I only considered it briefly when we found out, but a few weeks ago I thought about it again. I'm not surprised she has questions. Are you? Honestly?"

Sofia was an inquisitive and smart little girl. Why I hadn't considered her asking questions was beyond me. "I . . . I didn't _want_ to think about it," I sighed. "God, if I could erase Kate from my memory, I would. Trust me."

"Of course you would," she said, sitting down next to me. "If I could have given birth to our daughter, I'd go back in an instant. But that's now how it works. I _love _Sofia as if I'd given birth to her. Nothing will ever change that. Not this baby . . . _nothing_."

"But what if she doesn't think of it that way? She's a child, Bella. Five years old! She doesn't understand things like this."

"She might. I mean, if we explain it to her and I reassure her that I'll _never _love this baby more than her — that it's the exact same kind of love — maybe she'll understand it. Kids are smarter than we realize, you know? _She's _smarter than we realize."

I shook my head, running my hand through my hair. "I don't want to hurt her."

Fuck, I never wanted to hurt Little One, and this very well could. How the hell could I explain that I fucked up? That I got a woman I barely knew pregnant, and then that woman didn't want her — that _I _wasn't sure if I wanted her at first. I hated myself for doing this to my daughter.

"I don't either." Bella's voice broke, and I looked up to find tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't want to tell her that I'm not her real mom. Because I _am_. I'm terrified she'll look at me differently. I don't want this, Edward, but we can't keep lying to her. It'll only make it worse when she finds out. I don't want her to hate me for pretending to be something that I'm not."

Her body shuddered as she sobbed. I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her into my chest. I was fucking selfish again, thinking about how this affected _me _when it affected her just as much. I was Little One's dad. It was my blood running through her veins, my hair on top of her head, and my crooked smile on her lips.

But Bella . . . Bella raised her. Bella loved her, not because she had to, but because she _wanted _to. Bella was her mom — DNA be damned. Little One could doubt that. That thought caused me more pain than I could express, so of course it killed Bella.

"I'm sorry," I said, holding her as she cried. "I didn't . . . fuck, I didn't think. You're her mom, Bella. She knows that. You're the only mother she's ever known and _will _ever know. I'm so fucking sorry for not thinking about you. I won't let her think you're not her mom. Not even for a second. You're the reason she is who she is. Biological or not, that won't change."

"I just . . . we have to tell her now," Bella said as I wiped her tears. "I can't lie to her. I love her too much to lie anymore. It doesn't matter that I didn't give birth to her. Not to me, at least. I look at her and see _my _daughter— not Kate's."

I nodded. "I guess it'll be better to do it now than have it come out later. God forbid she finds out from someone other than us."

"And I don't want her to think we lied to her."

"Mommy, Daddy," Little One yelled through the door, knocking loudly. "Can I come in?"

I wiped Bella's tears as she sniffled, nodding to me. "It's time."

"I love you."

She smiled sadly, tilting her head to kiss me. "I love you, too."

I stood up from the bed, sighing as I walked over to the door, opening it up to find Sofia on the other side with a curious look. "Come on in, baby girl."

"What's wong? Mommy?" She ran to the bed, climbing up next to Bella and getting into her lap. Bella hugged her closely, kissing the top of her head. "Why are you sad, Mommy? It's okay if you didn't find my picture."

"No, we didn't, Little One."

I sat down next to them, unable to stop myself from kissing her forehead. I took a deep breath, knowing I needed to start this. My actions caused this. Granted, if I _hadn't _slept with Kate she wouldn't be here, and I couldn't regret that for an instant. I did this, though, so I needed to be the one to start the most difficult conversation I'd ever have.

"We didn't find it because we don't have it," I said. "We don't have it because . . . we didn't get a picture of you in Mommy's belly. Unlike your brother or sister, you didn't grow in there. You grew inside of another woman."

"But . . . how?"

"Sweet girl, you grew in my heart," Bella said, caressing her cheek. "I didn't give birth to you, but that doesn't change how _much _I love you. I know this is confusing, but we'll explain, okay?"

"You're my mommy, wight?"

She nodded feverishly. "_Yes_. I'm your mommy, and I'm going to be this baby's mommy, too."

"Babies come into the world the same way," I said, knowing I needed to admit how it _actually _happened. "I know I told you it happens when mommies and daddies love each other, but sometimes it happens by accident. And sometimes, that mommy isn't ready to be a mommy. I don't know how that happens, but it does."

"I was an . . . accident?" Sofia asked as her lip jutted out.

"The _best _accident in the world. Sometimes, accidents are good things. Very, _very _good things. The woman whose belly you grew in wasn't ready to be a mommy, so it was just you and me for a little while. Actually, that's not true. It was just you and me for about an hour."

I smiled, looking up to see Bella's lips curl.

"So . . . how is Mommy my mommy?"

"Like I said, you grew in my heart," Bella said, holding her a little tighter. "The moment I saw you, my heart grew and I realized that I was a mommy. Just because you didn't grow in my belly doesn't mean I'm not your mommy. If anything, think about how special that makes you to me. I _found _you and my heart grew so full of love that I couldn't contain it. It exploded with love. Just like with the baby inside of me, there wasn't a choice."

"I don't get it."

I nodded. "I know, baby. It's very confusing."

"No, I get that Mommy is my mommy, but what happened to my other mommy? Do I have two?"

"Her name is Kate," I sighed as tears formed in my eyes. "I met her when I was younger, and you grew in her belly. She wasn't ready to be a mommy, though, so she gave you to me. I don't know why she wasn't ready, baby. You don't have two mommies. Kate _isn't _that for you, but that's okay because it gave Mommy the chance to find you. She was meant to be yours, and you were meant to be hers."

Her brow creased as she nibbled on her bottom lip, _just like _Bella. "Do I have two daddies?"

"No," Bella said. "Daddy helped create you with Kate."

"Is he gonna do it again with another woman? Am I gonna have more bwothers and sisters?"

"_No_," I stressed, realizing I should have figured that'd bite me in the ass. "I love Mommy and _only _Mommy now. The only way I'm having more babies is if we make them together."

"Did you love Kate?"

Jesus fucking Christ. I was _actually _going to have to explain that I fucked up. And honestly, it served me right. After all the shitty things I did before Sofia, I deserved a hell of a lot worse.

"No, I didn't. I made a mistake, but that doesn't mean you were a mistake. Do you understand that? Daddy did it, and it had nothing to do with you."

"Did you get in twouble?"

"It wasn't that kind of mistake," Bella said, trying not to laugh.

The sleepless nights, shitty diapers, and _teething_ were my punishments for not keeping my dick in my pants — I wasn't telling Sofia that, though. And they were ones I would gladly do all over again to have her. Ones I _would _be doing all over again to have our next child.

They were worth it and so much more.

"So, do you understand, baby girl?" I asked. "You didn't grow in Mommy's belly, but that doesn't change that she loves you more than anything in the world."

"I'm special because I made her heawt explode with love." She smiled, looking up at Bella.

"Exactly, sweetheart." Bella nodded, grinning "But, I'm going to love your sibling just as much as I love you. You'll always be my special little girl, though. This baby won't change that. The fact that it's growing in my belly doesn't change that."

"It's still kinda confusing, but as long as Mommy's my mommy, I get it."

Bella nuzzled her face into our daughter's hair as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm your mommy."

"How you came into this world will _never _change that," I said, wrapping my arms around them both and kissing each of their cheeks. "We love you so much, Little One."

"I love you, too," she said. "It's okay, Mommy. Don't be sad anymore."

"Sweet girl, these are happy tears. I'm so happy that you know I'm your mommy. So very, _very _happy. I didn't want you to be confused, is all. You can ask us any questions you want, okay?"

She wiped her tears and kissed the top of Little One's head as I continued to hold them both in my arms. This was the most terrifying conversation I'd ever had with my daughter, and I knew it wasn't over. As she grew, she'd understand better and have questions and doubts, but I hoped she'd remember this conversation — remember how happy Bella was to know that she still knew who her mommy was.

Because, no matter how she came into this world, Bella _was _her mother. It was the love that mattered, not the how. And Bella loved Sofia as much as I did — she always had.

* * *

**A/N: **I'll forever be sorry for how long it takes me to update. If you've looked at my profile, you might have realized that I put Finding Sunshine and Just Breathe on hiatus. To be honest, I put too much on my plate and neither of those fics want to talk to me, so I decided that I'll come back to them when this is finished. I am very sorry about that. But hopefully it means I'll be able to concentrate on this. I won't make promises of updates, though. That just gets me into trouble. Just . . . thank you so much for sticking with me and continuing to read. It truly means more than I could ever express.

Now, for some news.

Kelley and I wrote a one shot for the Happily Ever After Twific contest! It won host's choice! We're beyond thrilled by this and still can't believe it! If you'd like to read it, it's on her profile — kr2009 — and is called **Superheroes and Second Chances**.

Also, yesterday I began posting a prewritten mini fic called **I Fell in Love**. It's seven chapters total and will post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the next two weeks. I describe it as a snap shot of falling in love. The idea came to me after reading a line in _The Fault in Our Stars_ by John Green. Like I said, it's all prewritten, so I _can_ promise updates on that.

Again, thank you all so much for sticking with me and continuing to read!


	7. First Recital

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

Little One had passed out early, so Bella and I decided to head up to bed and enjoy the quite time tonight. Since we'd told her about Kate a few days ago, it had been question after question. I understood that she wanted to know everything, but at some point, there wouldn't be any more answers we could give her. She knew more now than I really wanted to tell her, but she begged Bella and me to explain exactly how Bella became her mom.

It was pretty fucking strange to tell her about our relationship in the beginning, but at the same time, I liked remembering it. Bella painted in such a way that I didn't seem as bad as I remembered. She told our daughter just how I was with her — little things that I'd forgotten. We even showed her the videos I'd taken of her milestones.

She fucking loved those.

All in all, telling her the truth wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. She was so young that I didn't think it was right to tell her now, but it seemed like we made the best decision. She wasn't upset about finding out that Bella wasn't her biological mom. In fact, she took the "grew in my heart" thing far, saying she was special because of it, which was the truth. Still, I feared for when the time came that she'd be upset by it. I knew it would come at some point, but for now I tried not to think about it.

We'd handle that, just like we had telling her — as a family.

"I'm trying not to feel all, 'woe is me because I'm getting fat,' but I kind of feel like that," Bella said, pouting as we lay in bed. She rubbed her stomach, tracing the few almost invisible stretch marks that had begun.

In the last week alone, her bump had grown quite a bit, making it even more prominent.

"You're sure as hell not fat, so you shouldn't feel like that," I said, turning onto my side. "I'll gladly remind you how gorgeous you are at any time."

She smiled, reaching up to caress my cheek. "Who told you to say that?"

"That is my own creation," I chuckled. "I can be smooth, you know. I'm down right Casanova-like."

"Oh yeah, you totally are." She rolled her eyes. "But thank you for saying that. My jeans don't fit anymore and I now have a zit for the first time in ten years, but I'm going to believe your lie."

"It's an adorable zit." I smirked. It wasn't, but, you know, I had to say it. Besides, it wasn't _that _noticeable. If she hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have seen it. "And I'm not lying."

I titled my head up, kissing her. My hand that bad been against her stomach moved north, testing the waters. She didn't smack my hand away, so hell yes for that.

"You're beautiful, Bella."

"I love you."

I smiled against her neck. "I love you, too. Is this okay?"

Her hand fisted in my hair, bringing my lips back up to hers. "Of course it is. Lose the boxers, though."

I pulled away from her, kicking them off of me before she could change her mind. She was smiling beautifully, watching me closely. Before I could resume, though, she climbed on top of me, letting her hands roam over my chest as her lips pressed back against mine. Sure, she wasn't always in the mood for it lately, but when she was? Jesus fucking Christ, it was incredible.

And tonight, she was very clearly in the mood.

"You make me feel sexy," she said, pulling away and resting her forehead against mine. "I feel like my body isn't my own anymore, but you _still _make me feel like I used to. I love you for that."

"You _are _sexy. You're gorgeous, and nothing will change that. Those barely noticeable marks that are starting . . . they're not ugly. You're having our child, so nothing that happens because of that will ever make you any less beautiful to me."

"See?" she asked, smiling as tears filled her eyes. "You do _that_. You put aside your humor and say such sweet things when I need you to."

"It's the truth." I smiled, kissing her softly. "I can make a joke too, if you'd like."

"Don't ruin the moment," she giggled as I flipped her onto her back.

Soon enough, I'd gotten her tank top and panties off and just kissed her. My lips trailed along her jaw and neck as she hummed in satisfaction, pleading softly for more. I'd give this woman anything in the world and then some, so I didn't waste any time. My fingers slipped into her, moving quickly as she moaned my name.

Lately, she'd told me that the sex had been better than ever before — one of her favorite parts of the pregnancy when she was in the mood. I fucking loved that it was better. Her happiness was the most important thing to me — completely opposite of how it used to be when I was with someone. Sure, I still wanted to get off, but I cared that she did, too.

And lately? It hadn't taken much. A few movements of my fingers and rubbing her clit made her cry out my name in no time. My lips pressed against hers, swallowing her cries as she came.

I pulled back, looking down at her as I grinned. Her cheeks and chest were flushed as she closed her eyes, smiling softly. She was fucking magnificent, and I was the luckiest man in the world.

"I love you," she whispered as I moved between her legs.

I caressed her cheek, dipping my head to kiss her as I moved into her slowly. "I love you, too."

She felt fucking incredible around me, like she did every time. As I moved my hips into her, she cried my name over and over, tossing in a "Jesus fucking Christ" at one point. She didn't curse often, but fuck, I loved it when she did.

* * *

"You've got to be the _cutest _ballerina in the world," I chuckled, kneeling down in front of Little One backstage at her first recital. "You're going to do great, so don't be nervous."

She bit her lip, looking down at her feet. "But what if I suck?"

In all of her life, I could count the times Sofia had been nervous on one hand. When she started school, her most recent set of shots, when she broke a vase at Mom's house by accident and thought she'd be in trouble, and a few days ago when we told her about Kate. She was the bravest little girl I'd ever known, but right now, she was far from it.

She was about to go on stage for the first time. Granted, there were probably only about sixty people in the audience, but to her, there were thousands. I fucking hated seeing her look so pitiful, but it was also kind of . . . cute.

My baby girl told Bella she needed _me_, so I ran straight to her backstage.

"You will not suck," I said, caressing her cheek. "It's normal to be nervous, baby."

"You don't get newvous, Daddy."

"Me?" I laughed, shaking my head. "I get nervous _all _the time, so does Mommy and everyone else. It's normal. I guess you're just a normal kid, huh?"

She cocked her head, narrowing her eyes as if I'd offended her. "I'm _special_."

"My apologizes, of course you are, but even special little girls get nervous. You don't want to quit."

She nodded. "Yes, I do."

"But you're not going to. You're going to go out on that stage and everyone is going to see how _great _you are. Because you're _my _little one. My little one isn't a quitter, is she?"

She huffed dramatically, causing me to have to stifle a laugh. The kid was fucking adorable, okay? Even her meltdowns were cute as hell. "Do I hafta?"

I nodded, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Yeah, you do. I'll be right in the front row, okay? With everyone else. You're going to be amazing, and even if you stumble or forget something, you'll still be amazing. Just have fun. You have fun in class, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then just imagine you're back there."

She threw her arms around my neck, squeezing me as tightly as she could. I avoided her hair for fear of Bella cutting off my balls as she threatened. Apparently, getting hair into a perfect bun was _not _as simple as it seemed. But I mean, it seemed pretty fucking simple to me. Still, my wife was a terrifying pregnant chick and it was best to heed her warnings.

I very much liked my balls, after all.

"Are you ready now?" I asked as she relinquished her death grip on my neck.

"I guess so," she sighed. "I still get cake if I suck, right?"

I chuckled, grinning. "Of course you do. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

I kissed her cheek one last time before waving her ballet instructor over and letting her know that Sofia was ready. The recital wasn't that big, so they'd waited for Little One before going on, pushing the show back about ten minutes.

Once I was sure she was all right, I walked back out to the high school auditorium they'd reserved for the show. My entire family as well as Charlie and Sue had come to see Little One, so most of the front row was them. I'd actually had Alice and Jasper arrive early to save these fuckers. There wasn't a chance in hell I was watching my baby's first recital from shitty seats.

"Is she going to do it?" Bella asked, lifting the bouquet of roses we'd gotten for Sofia from my seat, so that I could sit down.

I nodded. "Yeah, she's still nervous as hell, but I think she'll be all right."

"Finally, something the squirt is afraid of," Emmett laughed. "I guess jumping off of the jungle gym is nothing compared to performing in front of strangers."

I shook my head. "I guess not, but even if we know she fucks something up, don't tell her, all right?"

Everyone agreed easily, though I doubted the reminder was necessary. All that really mattered was that Little One tried. We all knew full well that she'd stumble — dance sure as hell wasn't her strong suit — but that didn't matter.

Once the lights dimmed in the auditorium and the stage lights flicked on brightly, I sat up a little in my seat, holding Bella's hand. All the girls came out in tutus, doing the routine they'd practice. When Little One emerged, her eyes scanned the front row before locking onto mine. She smiled, stopping dead in her tracks and waved, causing the audience to laugh.

"She's the cutest little girl in the world," Mom laughed from beside me. "Please, tell me you got that, Carlisle."

"Of course I did, dear," Dad said, holding the camera.

Over the next half hour, we watched as Little One and her classmates fucked up the routine completely. There was probably only one girl who was doing it right, and it sure as hell wasn't my kid.

She was a mess — a complete and total disaster — but holy fucking shit was it priceless. At one point, I was pretty sure she forgot all of the moves and just started jumping and twirling. It was . . . hilariously awful.

"I'm sorry, Edward, but your kid isn't cut out for this shit," Emmett laughed, shaking his head from down the row.

I couldn't even be pissed at him. "Fuck you, she's perfect," I said, chuckling.

I heard a hush from behind me at my language, but I couldn't seem to care. I was pretty damn right about that special thing, let's just say. I mean, I loved her with all of my heart, but . . . she was awful.

Perfectly awful.

"Maybe she'd like painting?" Bella suggested. "I'd say gymnastics, but that'd be extremely dangerous."

I shrugged. "I don't know, but I think we're done with the ballet classes."

She nodded, covering her mouth to stop from laughing. I looked back at the stage, finding Little One lying down and kicking her feet. The other girls were doing it too, but not as . . . _interestingly _as she was.

Thankfully, it was over after that. All the girls stood up — Sofia winding up in the middle somehow — and took a bow before the curtain closed. I didn't give a shit that we'd wasted hundreds of dollars on these lessons because it was hundreds of dollars' worth of entertainment. Little One was smiling brightly when it ended, which was all that mattered.

* * *

Once the show was over, Little One ran out to us in the hallway of the high school with her classmates. Between all of us, she managed five different bouquets of roses. And trust me, she didn't give a shit about how well she did once she saw them.

The whole love of flowers thing from when she was a baby had stuck pretty well. It was a damn good thing that her grandmother owned a shop.

"Did you have fun, sweetpea?" Dad asked, handing Sofia a pink bouquet of roses.

She added them to her pile on her arm and nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "I didn't suck, right, Pawpaw?"

"Not even a little," he lied easily. "You looked _beautiful._"

"Mommy did my hair." She grinned, touching it softly. "Is it cake time now?"

"It sure is, baby," I said, lifting her up into my arms. "You were _incredible_, like I said you'd be. Are you glad you didn't quit?"

"Uh-huh, but I kinda messed up."

I gasped, feigning shock. "I couldn't tell. No one could, right?"

They all shook their heads, smiling as they lied through their teeth. Tomorrow, Bella and I would talk to her about other activities, but tonight I wanted her to believe that she was as amazing as she felt. There was no point in crushing her ballerina dreams just yet.

Once she'd said goodbye to her friends and teachers, we all headed to my parents' house for the party. It wasn't anything big, but Mom had decorated the dining room and living room in pink streamers and she even had a fucking banner made that said, "Congratulations on your first recital, Sofia!"

Of course my kid got a kick out of it, loving every moment of her little party — even if she didn't get gifts. Charlie and Sue had come as well, and Sofia spent a good twenty minutes explaining to Sue about the dances she learned. She even did parts of it again for us, soaking up the attention.

Eventually, she did get the cake she was promised. Rosalie had actually made it, and it looked pretty decent. I guess baking was her newest hobby or some shit. We headed into the dining room for it, and I sat Little One in my lap as Rose placed it on the table in front of her.

"Do I get to keep the ballawina?" Little One asked, grinning as she looked at the pink monstrosity of a cake with the figurine on top.

"Of course, sweetheart," Rose said. "Does it look pretty? I made it myself, you know?"

"It's so pretty!" she said. "Right, Daddy?"

I nodded. "It's beautiful, baby girl. Don't you need to say something to Nana and Auntie?"

"Oh! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, honey," Mom said, smiling. "Now, how about some cake?"

"Yes! Mommy, it's _so _pretty, right?"

Bella nodded from beside me with her brow creased slightly and her cheeks more pale than usual. "It is, sweet girl," she said. "I'll be right back, though, okay?"

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. She'd gone from being so happy to looking like something was wrong. "Are you going to be sick?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just have to go to the bathroom, all right? Start eating without me."

As she stood and walked away, the back of her light grey dress caught my eye. My heart raced and, for a moment, the world seemed to just . . . stop.

"Bella, your dress," I said, eyes wide on her.

The room fell silent as she looked down, noticing the red slowly trickling down her leg. "Oh," she said softly as I moved Sofia to Rose's lap and rushed out of my seat. "I don't . . . feel right."

My arms were already around her, trying to sit her down in a chair as her eyes rolled back into her head and she began falling forward.

* * *

**A/N:** Good news? The next two chapters are done and I'll update again in about two weeks! I'm so sorry for the long wait once again. At least I can promise that the next two updates will be regular and maybe even after that. I've made a goal for myself to write at least one thousand words a day this summer. So far, it's going pretty well and I've done better than my goal. Let's hope I can keep it up!

Thank you all _so_ much for reading and sticking with me, even with this unpredictable update schedule. I can't express how much it means to me. Just thank you.


	8. Fearful

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

"Where the _fuck _is she?" I asked, running my hand through my hair as my foot bounced on the linoleum floor.

"I'm sure she's on her way," Bella said, squeezing my hand. "Calm down, please? You're scaring me."

I let out a long breath, dropping my forehead to hers. How the fuck was I supposed to calm down? Dr. Uley said she'd be here twenty minutes ago, and she wasn't. We were in the ER, and all we knew right now was that our baby still had a heartbeat — a strong one, at least. But we still didn't know why the hell she was bleeding.

"It's going to be all right," I said for her sake, kissing her temple as I sat back up in my chair. "If she's not here soon, I'll do the damn ultrasound myself."

"Well, then I guess I'm just in time," Dr. Uley said, smiling sadly as she closed the exam room door behind her. "I was in Forks with another patient, but I came as quickly as I could. How are you feeling, Bella?"

"Um . . . a little better," she said, wiping her eyes. "I'm just really worried."

Dr. Uley nodded, pulling the stool over and sitting down. She opened Bella's chart, reading over the information I'd already told her when we talked on the phone.

After Bella passed out, Dad had called an ambulance. Thankfully, she woke up soon after losing consciousness, so it was likely that she'd fainted from the sight of the blood and not because of blood loss. When we got to the ER, the bleeding wasn't too heavy, but it was alarming all the same. She was seventeen weeks along. She shouldn't have even been spotting still, let alone bleeding enough that it trickled down her legs.

"The good news is that the baby isn't in distress," Dr. Uley said. "Your blood pressure has returned to normal and the bleeding has stopped, so I don't believe it's significant enough to endanger either of you. We're going to do an ultrasound to hopefully determine the cause, all right?"

Bella nodded, gripping my hand tightly. "What could it be?"

"There are a few possible causes, but let's find out for sure before discussing them. We should actually be able to determine the sex now, if you'd like to know."

I looked at Bella and said, "Yeah, we do."

Once she pulled the machine over and started it, I helped Bella move the hospital gown up and took her hand once more. My eyes were trained on the screen, praying that it wasn't anything serious. _I_ was _praying_. I couldn't lose either of them, and when Bella fainted, I thought I had.

I'd never been so fucking terrified in my life.

"This will be a little cold," Dr. Uley said, squeezing the jelly onto Bella's stomach before placing the transducer over it. "Let's take a look."

My eyes continued to bore into the screen, trying to make out what I was seeing. It didn't take long to realize the cause of the bleeding. The placenta was partially over Bella's cervix — a hell of a long way from where it should have been at the top of her uterus.

"Bella, do see this right here?" Dr. Uley asked, pointing out the placenta on the screen. "That's your placenta, and right here," she moved her fingers, "is your cervix. The condition is called placenta previa and the good news is that yours is referred to as partial. That means that it's close to your cervix and covering it slightly, but not completely, which is a good thing."

"Does it hurt the baby?" Bella asked as tears formed in her eyes again.

She shook her head. "Not right now, but it is the cause of your bleeding. Now, hopefully, as your uterus grows it'll move away from your cervix. Imagine I drew a dot on a balloon then blew it up. The dot doesn't actually move, but it shifts away from where it was originally. There's a _very _good chance it will shift as your uterus grows, all right? For now, though, we'll keep a close eye on it and you'll have some restrictions."

"Anything," Bella said, nodding as I did. "Are sure it's not hurting the baby? I mean, could I lose it?"

"I highly doubt that. If it doesn't move like I suspect it will, it could mean that you'll need a C-section, but that's something to worry about as your pregnancy progresses. Right now, your baby is doing _great. _How about telling your wife the sex, Dr. Cullen?"

"Oh . . . yeah, of course." I smiled, looking back to the screen as she moved the wand. I squeezed Bella's hand, looking for the sign. I easily saw it and had to laugh softly. "You were right."

Her eyes widened as I looked down at her. "A boy?"

I nodded, grinning as my emotions overtook and tears formed in my eyes. "That's our son, Bella. We're having a little boy."

"Oh my God!" She smiled. "We're having a baby boy."

I leaned down, kissing her softly. Holy shit, I was having a boy . . . a son, like I'd hoped. Bella knew it, but I honestly hadn't believed her. I mean, I thought I'd wind up with girl after girl. I'd have been happy with a girl, of course, but I _did _want a boy at some point.

"Our son is going to be all right," I said, caressing her cheek. "God, Bella, you know how to scare the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry, but . . . a boy," she laughed softly. "Does that help?"

"All I care about is that you two are healthy." I looked back up at Dr. Uley. "What can we do to keep them that way?"

"First off, no more sex for a while," she said and I kind of felt like I'd been kicked in the balls. I mean, in the back of my mind I _knew _that, but still . . . I liked sex. I loved my wife and son more, though. "I know that's _very _disappointing, but until the placenta has moved away, it's the safest thing. I'm also putting you on bed rest for a few weeks, Bella. Hopefully it won't be for long, but the less activity the better right now. Strenuous activities could provoke more bleeding, which we need to avoid."

"I have a five-year-old," Bella said. "Who, by the way, is probably scared out of her mind."

"I'll call Rosalie in a few minutes," I said.

"Still, I have to work and take of her. I can't be in bed for a few weeks."

"We'll do whatever we have to, all right? I'll take some time off or maybe Mom could help a few days a week. We'll make it work. She'll understand."

At least I hoped so. Little One had been good with Bella's pregnancy so far, but if Bella couldn't do the things she normally did, Sofia might have a difficult time adjusting. She was a good kid, though, so she'd probably understand. I'd just have to explain it to her and try to compensate.

"It's only for a few weeks," Dr. Uley said. "And it won't be full bed rest. You'll be able to walk around some, but I'd like you to rest as much as possible until we see some change. It won't be for your entire pregnancy."

Bella sighed, nodding. "I'll do whatever I have to. It's just . . . I didn't want this to affect Sofia so much, and now it will."

"She'll be okay, Bella," I said, kissing her forehead. "We'll make it work."

* * *

Though the bleeding had stopped and both Bella and our son were all right, Dr. Uley wanted to keep her overnight for observation. She called it a precaution, but that didn't make Bella any less pissed that she couldn't go home and see our daughter.

Once I'd finally calmed her down by promising that I'd bring Sofia in first thing in the morning, I left to go talk to my parents, Charlie, Sue, Alice, and Jasper who'd followed us to the hospital. Rosalie and Emmett stayed with Sofia and took her back to their house with the boys, hoping it'd keep her occupied and her mind off of what she'd witnessed tonight.

I was _terrified_, but Little One? I'd never heard her scream so loudly as when Bella was being loaded into the ambulance. It was heart wrenching and awful. It was the sound of pure fear.

"Is she okay?" Mom asked, jumping from her seat with Charlie as I walked into the waiting room.

I nodded, sighing. "Yeah, she's doing a lot better."

"What happened?" Dad asked.

"Can I see her?" Charlie asked.

"Uh, yeah," I said, sitting down next to them. "She's in room thirteen right now. She's being moved upstairs for observation in a little while, but you have some time. She and the baby are all right, but she has partial placenta previa."

"What the hell is that?" Charlie asked, creasing his brow. "She's not going to lose it or anything, right?"

I shook my head. "No, it's a condition where the placenta is partially covering her cervix. She's lucky and it's not covering it completely, but she has to take it easy for a while until it moves, which Dr. Uley is certain it will. She was pretty active tonight, which is what caused the bleeding."

"She's not in any danger, though, right?"

"No, she'll be fine . . . and so will our son."

Mom's eyes grew wide, catching my words before they registered with anyone else. "You're having a boy?"

I smiled, laughing softly. "Unbelievable, right? It's kind of the . . . bright side to this shitty night."

"Oh, sweetie!" she said, throwing her arm around my neck and embracing me tightly. "That's so wonderful! God, you must be thrilled."

I nodded as everyone congratulated me. This wasn't exactly the way I'd envisioned telling our family, but Bella gave me the go-ahead on the condition that she got to tell Sofia. It was fucking incredible news after the horrible night, so she wanted everyone to know and focus on that.

"I'm going to go see her, okay?" Charlie asked, smiling. "A boy . . . God, that's great news, son."

"She knew," I laughed as he stood up. "I didn't believe her, but she was sure."

"My girl has a damn good intuition," he said, chuckling softly before walking away.

"I guess that'll teach you to listen to her," Alice said. "I'm so glad she's okay."

"Me too," I said, leaning back and running my hand through my hair. "Fuck, that was the scariest thing I've ever gone through. I thought I was losing them."

Dad laid his hand my shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I'm so sorry this happened, but at least it's not the worst case scenario. In a few weeks, you probably won't even have to worry about it anymore."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's just . . . holy shit."

"I know, son. Now, I think you have a little girl to call, don't you?"

"Shit," I cursed, looking at my watch. It was past eleven, but I highly doubted she'd passed out yet. "Maybe give Charlie a few minutes and then go see her, all right? I'm going to call Rose and get a cup of coffee."

"Good idea," Mom said, hugging me once more. "I'm so glad that it's going to be okay."

"Me too," I said, standing up. "I'll be in soon."

After leaving the waiting room, I used the badge I had from when I worked here to get into the doctor's lounge for the good shit. Thankfully, the room was empty, so after filling a cup, I sat down and called Rose.

She answered almost instantly. "What's going on?"

"Bella and the baby are going to fine," I said. "She has partial placenta previa, so they're keeping her for observation tonight and she'll go home tomorrow with some restrictions. It's bad, but not even close to as bad as it could be."

"Oh, thank God," she sighed in relief. "I'm so sorry, Edward."

I nodded to myself, taking a deep breath. "Thanks, but I have some good news. Are you near Sofia?"

"No, Emmett's got her in the den, keeping her occupied with a video game. The boys were already asleep when we got home, so we've kept her downstairs. She's a _mess_."

"Don't tell her because Bella wants to, but we did find out that it's a boy."

"Aww! That's great! I bet you're thrilled, huh?"

"Yeah," I chuckled. "I mean, I'd have been just as happy with a girl, but . . . I'm pretty fucking happy that it's a boy, let's just say."

"Please, you probably got down on your hands and knees every night and prayed for a boy," she laughed. "In all seriousness, though, that's great. I'm so glad they're both okay. I promise not to spill the beans to Sofia."

"Thanks. Can I talk to her?"

"Of course, I'm heading into the den now."

"Is that Daddy?" I heard Little One yell clear as day.

"Yep, here you go, sweetheart," Rose said. "Don't hang up once you're done, all right?"

"Uh-huh," Sofia said. "Daddy, is Mommy okay? Is the baby? Can I see her? Are you coming home?"

I smiled to myself, setting the coffee cup back down. "Mommy and the baby will be fine. She's got to take it easy for a little while, but I promise it's all going to be all right. I'm afraid you can't see her until tomorrow, though."

"No," she whined. "Bwing her home, please?"

"I wish I could, baby girl," I sighed. "I'll come get you _first _thing in the morning, though, okay? We'll all go home tomorrow, but tonight, I need you to be a good girl and stay with Auntie and Uncle. Mommy's going to get settled into another room, and then I'll have her call you back, okay?"

"But I don't wanna stay here."

Jesus Christ, I could just imagine her fucking pout and it killed me. I hated this, but she couldn't come here tonight. Visiting hours were over and there was no way in hell I'd be able to sneak her in to stay. Trust me, I even thought about it.

"I'm so sorry, Little One," I said. "I promise I'll come get you first thing tomorrow, okay? I know it sucks, but that's the way it has to be. Mommy needs her rest."

She huffed. "Pwomise you'll come get me?"

"I cross my heart. That's a serious promise, remember?"

"Yeah . . . but I don't like it."

"I don't either. I love you."

"Love you, too. Mommy's gonna call soon, wight?"

I nodded to myself. "Yes, I'm going to check on her and I'll have her call. I'll see you in the morning, okay? Be good for Auntie and Uncle."

"I will. Bye, Daddy. Love you."

"I love you more."

* * *

After hanging up with Little One and Rose, I headed back to Bella's room in the ER. I met Alice and Jasper in the hallway on their way out, and they promised to call in the morning. Jasper said he'd be working, so he'd try and stop in before Bella was discharged.

When I walked into the room, my mother and Bella shared a conniving look. Nothing good ever, _ever _came out of that look, and I'd witnessed it quite a few times over the years. It normally meant that I was about to be fucked. Hard.

"Your mom wants to stay with us for a few weeks," Bella said, smiling. "Isn't that great? She'll help around the house and with Sofia until I'm back on my feet. You won't even have to take time off."

My mouth fell open as I watched my life as I knew it — and liked it — end. I wasn't going to get laid anytime soon, and now my _mom _was moving in with us. That was just fucking fantastic.

"What about Dad?" I asked, going out to sit by Bella's right side.

"I'm sure I can survive alone for a few weeks," he said as I narrowed my eyes. He was the only chance in hell that I had to get the fuck out of this god-awful arrangement. "I think it's a good idea."

"I won't be a bother," Mom said, laughing softly. "I told you this would freak him out, Bella."

"He'll live," she said, smiling as she squeezed my hand. "It's only for a few weeks, and I think it'll be good for Sofia. It's not normal, but . . . it's something. It's not like you can take weeks off of work to care for me and the house will be a disaster if I leave it to you. It takes a load off of my mind."

This was the worst idea I'd ever heard, but I could easily tell there was no getting out of it. Unfortunately, Bella loved my mother . . . _a lot_ and I probably should have seen this coming. Part of me kind of wished they shared the relationship that Rose and Emmett's mom did.

That chick _hated _my sister.

"I'm sure I can get the rest of the week off, so when do you want to come?" I asked.

"I can wait until you go back to work," Mom said. "I promise I won't bother you too much, but with Bella on bed rest and Sofia being so active, it's the best idea we could come up with. I thought about just coming down every morning, but that's a lot of driving and you work nights sometimes."

"Will you be okay with it?" Bella asked. "I'd really appreciate the help."

I sighed, nodding. There was no getting out of it, so I decided lying would be the best option. After all, it was only a few weeks.

Please, God, let it be a quick few weeks.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, sweet girl," Bella said, sniffling as she spoke to Sofia. "I'll see you in the morning, though. That's not too far away."

I caressed my thumb over her hand, knowing how fucking hard this was for her. Once everyone left, Bella was soon transferred and she called Little One the second she could. They'd been talking for twenty minutes, and Bella had probably apologized at least ten times.

"Sleep well, okay? I know it's weird, but it'll be over soon. I love you _so _much."

I lifted her hand, kissing the back of it as tears rolled down her cheeks. After another round of apologizes, I love yous, and sleep wells, Bella finally hung up the phone and passed it back to me.

"I hate doing this to her," she said as I wiped her cheeks. "She sounds so pitiful, you know? God, she can tug on my heart strings like a pro."

"She's good at that," I said, smiling softly. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I just wish this hadn't happened. Of all the nights, huh? It kind of seems like bad things happen at large family gatherings."

"It's just shitty luck. Move over."

She sniffled, gently shifting as far as she could on the small hospital bed. I got up on it, stretching out beside her and opening my arm, letting her rest her head on my chest as I held her.

"She'll be fine tonight, so let's stop worrying," I said. "Rose and Emmett will take good care of her, and I'll go get her when we wake up. Let's talk about our son."

She titled her head up, smiling as I kissed her forehead. "I guess I shouldn't really make plans, huh? I had this idea in my head about forbidding you from seeing the ultrasound and having Dr. Uley put the gender in a note and having cupcakes made or something. You, Sofia, and me would find out together at home."

I laughed at the detail she'd planned out, and the fact that she could ever forbid me from seeing the damn ultrasound. "Well, maybe we'll still have cupcakes made and tell Sofia that way."

She nodded. "I'd like that. And I mean, I _did _like that you told me. I just . . . knew it. I can't explain it, but I had this overwhelming feeling that he was a boy. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I'm really glad I was right."

"Me too," I chuckled. "God, it's kind of perfect, isn't it? A girl and a boy."

"Yep, and that's all I want . . . Is that okay?"

I shrugged. "I never envisioned myself with tons of kids. I wanted us to have one together, so if you're done, I am too. Maybe we'll change our minds in a few years, but either way, I'm pretty fucking thrilled."

"Maybe, but I'm happy with one of each. It's our perfect family, no matter how big."

"Exactly." I grinned. "I love you so much, you know that? If I'd lost you . . . God, I couldn't. I couldn't have handled that, and I thought I had. Do me a favor and don't _ever _do that to me again, okay?"

"It wasn't exactly fun for me either, you know," she sighed. "It _sucks_. All of it does, but I'm just glad he's okay."

I placed my hand over hers on my stomach, caressing it with my thumb. "He's perfect. Look at his heart rate. It couldn't be any better."

She glanced over at the monitor, smiling. "He's going to be a good man, just like his daddy."

I smirked. "Hopefully a hell of a lot better."

"Don't go berating yourself again, Edward. You're incredible. The only reason I stated calm tonight was because of you. It makes me feel safe that you can manage that. When I'm falling apart, you can always keep me together."

"The outside was _very _different from the inside. You need to get some rest, okay? I'll stay right here unless you want me to move."

"Don't even think about it."

She titled her head up, pressing her lips to mine. I savored the moment of quietness — the only sounds being the soft beeping of the monitors. In that moment, I knew everything would be okay. Not easy, but okay. We were having a beautiful baby boy in a few short months, so I'd deal with whatever it took to get there.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I managed to finish chapter ten last night, so I figured I'd update a little earlier than I said I would. I did leave it at a pretty awful place, after all. There will for sure be another chapter in two weeks — sooner if I finish eleven. I just want to stay a little ahead because I don't want to go back to updating so irregularly.

Thanks again for reading!


	9. Fun Reveal

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

I slept like shit and my back was killing me once I finally got out of the small hospital bed around seven in the morning. Bella was still sound asleep, so I decided not to wake her up and let her know I was leaving. I'd already gotten a text from Rose, saying that Sofia was up and ready, so I wanted to keep my promise.

"Dr. Uley makes her rounds about eight-thirty, so she'll start discharge paperwork then," Caroline, Bella's nurse said.

I nodded. "Good. I'm going to go grab our daughter, but I didn't want to wake her up. I'll be back in a half hour tops, all right?"

"Sounds good." She smiled. "I'm going to check on her, but I'll try not to disturb her. Oh, and uh, you have a little . . ." She motioned to my head, laughing softly.

I ran my hand through my hair, smiling tightly. It probably looked like a fucking bird had nested, but I didn't really care. I needed coffee and my daughter — in that order — to function properly. And after getting the coffee I so dearly needed, I found my car that Dad had left for me and drove over to Rose's house.

I swear to fucking god, Little One was waiting in the window — her nose pressed to the damn glass as I pulled up. The door swung open seconds after she disappeared, and she came running out and into my arms the moment I'd gotten out of the car.

"I missed you, Daddy," she said, squeezing my neck tightly. "Where's Mommy? Can we go now? Please? Please? _Please_?"

I kissed her cheek and smiled, pulling back. "Let me talk to Auntie for a minute, and then we'll go, okay? Are you already dressed?"

She grinned, nodding as I looked at the shoes she'd already put on. "I been awake since five."

I snorted, feeling a little sorry for my sister. When my kid put her mind to something, there was no chance in hell to divert her. At least she'd probably nap today. Once we walked into the house, I put her down and headed into the kitchen, finding Rose feeding Felix as Ben ate his cereal quietly.

"I swear I made sure it was you before I let her run out," Rose said, smiling. "I couldn't have held her back if I'd tried."

I shrugged, reaching for a mug and helping myself to another cup of coffee. "It was a nice welcome. How much of a hellion was she?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "I know for sure that I don't want another kid, if that tells you anything. I'll take my physically exhausting boys over your mentally exhausting girl _any _day."

"You get used to her," I chuckled, sitting down. "Really, thank you so much for taking care of her. It means a lot."

"Any time, Edward. So . . . I heard that Mom's moving in." She smirked, spooning more cereal into Felix's mouth.

"She already told you?"

She nodded. "Yep, I just got off the phone with her about ten minutes ago. I'd say I'm sorry, but . . . I think it's hilarious. I guess that's what you get for moving almost an hour away."

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "It's only a few weeks and Bella _really _likes the idea. We have plenty of room, so maybe it won't be too bad."

"I love our mother, but she doesn't understand boundaries. At all. So, good luck with this."

"Thanks," I scoffed, lifting the mug.

I managed to finish half of the cup before Little One decided enough was enough. I was pretty sure that if she could reach the pedals, she'd have left without me. And I figured that I probably shouldn't have tested her to see if she'd try.

As we drove toward the hospital, I tried to explain as easily as I could what had happened to Bella, but it was a little above her understanding. She got that Bella needed to take it easy, but explaining a placenta to a five year old? Ha. Thankfully, she didn't need to know exactly what was wrong, and agreed easily to take it easy on her mom for a little while.

"We gonna go home today, right?" Little One asked as I carried her through the hospital corridor.

I nodded. "Yeah, but remember what I said, okay? Mommy's going to need to rest, so she can't play with you a lot. Maybe today we'll just watch movies in bed with her, all right?"

She smiled. "I like that."

Pushing open the door to Bella's room, I found her sitting up in bed with a tray of the disgusting hospital food in front of her. The moment she saw Sofia, the scowl on her beautiful face disappeared and she lit up.

"Mommy!" Little One squealed, wiggling in my arms.

"Hi, sweet girl. Edward, put her beside me," Bella said, grinning as she moved over a little.

I set Little One down, and her arms basically locked around Bella's neck, holding onto her for dear life. The moment they shared was fucking priceless and made me smile, watching them closely as I sat down in a chair next to them.

"I missed you _so _much, sweetie," Bella said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "I'm so sorry for scaring you. I can't imagine how awful that was for you."

"I thought you were dying," Little One sniffled. "You're not, wight?"

She shook her head, pulling her close to her again. "Of course not. The baby and I are going to be just fine. See?"

She laid Sofia's hand over her stomach, smiling softly.

"It's bigger, Mommy."

"You think so?"

Sofia nodded. "Yeah. Isn't it, Daddy?"

"It's growing every day, baby girl," I said, reaching up to caress her cheek. "And in a few weeks, you'll get to feel it kicking. Isn't that cool?"

Her eyes grew wide as she grinned. "So cool! I wanna feel it now!"

"Soon, sweet girl," Bella chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "Now do you see that Mommy and baby are just fine? I know it was scary last night, but it's all over now. We're going to go home very soon."

"Daddy said we getta sit in bed and watch movies."

Bella laughed softly, nodding. "I think that sounds like a _great _idea."

* * *

Once Dr. Uley signed Bella's discharge paperwork, it took another hour before we could leave. In that time, Bella and Sofia managed to make an extensive list of movies to watch — all of which had _zero _fucking appeal to me.

The good news was that Mom wasn't coming to our house until tomorrow, so at least I was only forced to watch to shitty movies and not have to deal with that just yet. I _really _wasn't looking forward to it, to say the least.

"Oh, I think our mattress is heaven," Bella said, easing onto our bed. "Yep, definitely heaven."

"I thought you wanted to get a bath first," I laughed, taking off her shoes.

She sighed, nodding. "Yeah, but I kind of don't want to move. That bed was _awful _and I'm exhausted. How mad do you think Sofia will be if I fall asleep on her?"

"Well, she's been up since five, so I'm guessing she'll pass out with you. At least I hope she will because she'll get an attitude soon if she doesn't."

"Poor girl. I hate doing this to her, but you'll help out. I know you will."

I nodded. "Of course, Nibbles. It'll all work out and you'll be back out your feet before Christmas. Now, do you, uh . . . want me to start your bath?"

She laughed loudly, covering her mouth as I cocked my head. "I'm sorry, but . . . you're being so sweet and it's weird. Nice, but weird."

"I'm a _very _sweet guy, you know."

She lifted her hand, laying it on the side of my face. "Of course you are, and yes, I'd love it if you'd start it for me. Thank you."

I leaned in, kissing her softly. "You're welcome."

* * *

After Bella got a bath and I helped Sofia get one, we all settled onto our big bed and started the shitty Disney movie. As predicted, they both passed out soon into it and I wasn't far behind.

The next day was pretty similar — spending most of the day in bed and watching movies — with the exception of my mom arriving mid-afternoon. Seeing her huge suitcase and carful of groceries really made things sink in. It wasn't what I wanted, but I knew she would be a huge help.

Of course, Little One was _thrilled_ with the addition and fully believed it should be permanent. Fuck no. I'd deal with it for a few weeks, but Sofia wasn't getting her way on that one. It _did _give Bella a break, though, which was the most important thing. She got the chance to rest without Sofia curled into her side. She needed to rest and not worry, which my mother made sure of.

When Monday came around, Little One was pissed that she had to go back to school without Bella. The tantrum probably made it into the top five worst ones she'd had, but Bella managed to calm her down when I couldn't. The fact was that Bella couldn't work right now. She didn't want to be completely done yet, but depending on what happened with the placenta, she could be. She didn't want to talk about that possibility, but I knew it was on her mind and upset her.

She loved teaching. Of course she'd decided to take time off after the baby, but she wasn't ready to give it up yet and I couldn't blame her.

"I'm sure I could take another day if you want me to," I said, sitting down next to Bella in bed.

She smiled, taking my hand. "Don't be as bad as Sofia. Your mom will take great care of me, and she even said I could help her fold laundry so I don't _die _of boredom. Two days in bed, and I'm already excited about doing housework."

"That's sad," I sighed, laughing softly. "But really, I could keep you company. I don't have any procedures scheduled."

"I see exactly where Sofia gets that bottom lip from." She traced over my lip, bringing her hand up to cup my cheek. Pouting is unbecoming of you. Go to work and take care of _other _people. I'll be fine."

I laid my hand over her stomach, nodding. "All right, but I'm just a phone call away, and if I don't answer, call the hospital and have me paged. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said as I leaned in to kiss her.

Once I pulled away, I kissed her stomach and then headed out, feeling like shit for having to leave her. Maybe I was as bad as Little One, but this fucking sucked. I was still scared, to be honest. I was afraid something would happen, and I wasn't there to help her.

I was terrified to lose her, and I was lucky I hadn't three days ago. It was a rude awakening to the dangers of pregnancy. All the things I'd feared from the moment I found out she was pregnant.

But, I had to look on the bright side. Of all the things to happen, this wasn't close to the worst.

* * *

A few days had passed since Mom moved in and it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. She was a huge help with the house and Sofia, but she also gave Bella and I our privacy — which was what I'd been worried about. She usually wasn't so great with boundaries.

"Cupcakes are done," Mom said, smiling as she laid the tray of decorated cupcakes on the island. "All the evidence of the blue is hidden, so Sofia will be completely surprised when she bites in."

I put my hand out, about to grab one but she smacked it away. "What the hell?"

"You're waiting!" she laughed. "Bella wants to do it after dinner, so deal with it. How was your day?"

I shrugged, laying my bag over the chair. "Not too bad. How's Bella? Is Little One with her?"

She nodded. "Yep, they're in your room. She's starting to go a little stir crazy, so I let her help me put dinner together earlier." Before I could interrupt her, she continued. "She sat right in that chair and I didn't let her move too much. I can be pretty stern, you know."

I scoffed. "I do recall my childhood. Put the fear of God into her, right?"

"Only a little," she laughed softly. "We also decided to do Thanksgiving here this year since she can't really go anywhere. She doesn't want to miss it just because of this."

"I think it's a good idea. You know how she loves the holidays."

"Exactly. And dinner's ready, so why don't you go get them?"

I nodded and kissed her cheek. "Will do and . . . thanks for helping out and not making her feel so bedridden."

"It's my pleasure." She smiled. "I promise that I won't intrude forever."

"It's not . . . bad. I mean, it's just something to get used to. I'm sorry if I've made you feel unwelcome. All of this has just taken its toll, you know?"

She nodded, coming around to wrap her arm around me. "I know, sweetheart. It's all going to be okay, though. In a few short months all of this worry will be forgotten as you look at your beautiful son."

"God, I can't wait," I sighed happily. "He's going to be amazing."

She smiled. "He'll be a Cullen, so there's no doubt about that. Now, go get Bella and Sofia for me."

When I got upstairs, I found Little One with her face against Bella's growing stomach, talking to her sibling. Fuck, she was cute. I didn't want to interrupt it, but Bella quickly noticed me, which made Sofia lift her head up.

I got my usual hugs and kisses from my little girl and then shooed her downstairs with her nana, so I could have some alone time with my wife. The no sex thing fucking sucked. It'd been officially a week since the last time we'd had sex, and I mourned on the anniversary.

"How's the boy?" I asked, sitting down beside her and kissing her. I laid my hand on her stomach, caressing it lightly.

"He's good. Your mom made us buffalo strips for lunch, which he approved of, but my heart burn reminded me I shouldn't have," she said.

"Are you feeling all right?"

She nodded. "Perfect. How was your day?"

"Pretty good. There wasn't anything too exciting, but I think I've set a new record doing stitches. Like, so fucking fast." I smirked.

She laughed. "Well, congratulations on that. Help me up, will you?"

"Of course." I stood up, holding both of my hands out for hers. "Mom's got the cupcakes ready, so I'm sure Little One will try to get you to give her one."

"I can be strong," she giggled. "I'm still shocked you've gone a week without spilling the beans. Thank you."

* * *

"Is it cupcake time yet?" Little One asked, bouncing in her seat. "I want one _sooooo _bad!"

"Well, they're actually special cupcakes, sweet girl," Bella said, smiling. "When I was in the hospital, Daddy and I found out whether you're having a brother or sister."

"Is it a girl?"

We shared a look, knowing she probably wouldn't be as thrilled as we were with the fact that it what a boy. Still, she knew the chances were even and said that if it were a boy, she'd still love him.

She acted like that would be a favor to us, which was kind of hilarious at the time.

"You have to bite into the cupcake to see," I said, picking one up off of the tray and passing it to her. "Ah, wait for everyone."

She grinned sheepishly, pulling it away from her mouth as we all grabbed one. Mom had made a vanilla cake mix and dyed it blue, using black wrappers so you couldn't see the color.

"Okay, go ahead," Bella said, reaching out to take my hand.

Little One didn't waste a second, biting into it quickly. She pulled the cupcake back, eyes wide at the blue.

"A boy?" she asked with her mouthful — the blue cake crumpling out.

"I'm sorry it's not a girl, but isn't this exciting?" Bella asked.

"I'm gonna have a brother! That's cool, too!"

"See? I knew she'd be happy," I laughed. "No ribbons in his hair, though, got it?"

Her nose crinkled as she shook her head.

"Maybe once or twice," Bella said, smirking.

I huffed, shaking my head. They could say what they wanted, but there was no fucking chance in hell Little One was putting bows in my son's hair. I'd fight that one _hard_. This was finally my chance not have to dress up, participate in tea parties, and let my kid paint my nails — it happened _once_, I swear.

"But since this one's a boy, can the next one be a girl, please?" Little One asked. "Like, can Daddy put a girl in there with him so they come out togeder? Because I _really _want a girl, too. Please?"

I chocked on the cupcake in my mouth as Bella and Mom laughed their asses off. Clearly, I didn't explain the whole baby-making process very well. And if she thought she was getting another baby anytime soon, she was in for a rude awakening.

Very rude.

"That's not possible, sweet girl," Bella said, clearing her throat as she calmed down. Little One looked at her curiously, probably wondering what the fuck was so funny. "Daddy and I have no control over what we have, remember?"

"Then bwing a girl home, too. Maybe there's another Mommy like Kate that isn't ready for a baby."

"Baby girl, we're just bringing home a boy when it's time," I said. "I know you want a girl, but that's not going to happen right now. I think you'll _really _like your brother, so how about giving him a chance?"

"If I don't like him, can you trade him?" she asked in all seriousness.

"You will _love _him," Mom said. "You know, Auntie felt the same way about your daddy? But then once we brought him home, she adored him. You'll get to help Mommy take care of him and once he's a little older, you'll even be able to play with him."

Little One sighed dramatically, shaking her head. "_Fine_. But I might not like him."

"I promise you will, sweetie," Bella said. "How about giving him a kiss, hmm?"

Little One climbed off of her chair as Bella scooted back and lifted her shirt. Sofia didn't bother wiping her mouth off before giving Bella's stomach a sloppy, blue kiss.

"I don't have to share my baby dolls now, wight?" she asked, lifting her head.

Bella smiled, caressing her cheek. "No, so isn't that a bonus?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She nodded before kissing Bella's stomach once more. "Hi, brother. I don't have to share my baby dolls, but I'll let you play with my other toys. I'm a _really _good sharer. Love you."

"He loves you too, Little One," I said, smiling as I picked her up and put her in my lap. "Now, how about finishing your cupcake?"

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks so much for reading! I'll see you all again in two weeks.


	10. Feeling Him

**Massive thank you **to BookwormBaby2580 and MelissaMargaret for beta'ing.

**Thanks,** Kelley, Sammymoso, Vanessa, Marita, and twicrazreader for pre-reading.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

I missed my wife.

It had been almost a month since the sex ban had begun, and I was left to help myself. Of course I couldn't do it in bed because Bella wasn't getting any, so it didn't seem fair. I was left to my morning shower, and I fucking hated it. I missed her skin against mine, my mouth on her breasts, and being buried balls deep in her.

I just fucking missed _her_.

So, I got creative and used my own damn imagination. It wasn't even close to the real thing, but it did the job. I stroked my dick slowly, trying to envision it was her hand and not mine. The warm water poured down from above me as I braced one hand against the tiled wall. I moved faster and faster, moaning as I grew closer to coming.

"Edward, I think I—"

My head snapped toward the glass door as my eyes locked with my _fucking _mom's. Her mouth fell open as I let go of my dick. It was only a second — fucking second before she turned around and ran out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Son of a fucking bitch," I hissed, running my hands over my face.

I'd just been caught jacking off by my mother. The last time that had happened I was fourteen and forgot to lock my bedroom door. I really, really, _really _missed my damn privacy, and now I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye ever again.

So, you know, that was great.

* * *

"It's not funny."

Bella covered her mouth, trying to stifle the laughs that wouldn't stop. "I'm sorry."

"You're still laughing."

She threw her head back against the pillow, shaking her head. "I just . . . I can just _imagine _your face. I'm so sorry, but it's hilarious."

I rolled my eyes and huffed. "I was caught dick in hand, Bella. Dick in hand! Why the hell didn't she knock? Why don't we have damn shower curtain over that door?"

"It's glass! Why would we?" she laughed. "Really, I'm trying to stop but the more you describe it, the funnier it gets."

"I can't have sex and now I can't even jerk off in my own shower."

She laid her hand against my cheek, sitting up to kiss me. "I'm really sorry, all right? I know you're traumatized and laughing doesn't help."

"Not even a little," I said, shaking my head. "I'm not sure I'll ever get her expression out of my mind. Every time I touch my dick now, I'll remember that. I'll have like, flashbacks or some shit."

She barked out a laugh, covering her mouth quickly as I glared at her. "Maybe we should, I don't know, have a night alone? We might have a decent size house, but with the extra person it does get a little crowded sometimes."

Though it'd been almost a month since we'd found out about her condition, Bella's placenta had yet to migrate. She'd had a little more bleeding a few days ago, so Dr. Uley decided to keep her on modified bed rest a little longer — which, of course, meant Mom would continue living with us. Bella couldn't leave the house except for appointments, so I knew it was starting to wear on her.

"I can't ask you to help me if I can't do anything for you," I said, taking her hand. "I'll just . . . let my balls go blue."

She smiled, shaking her head. "I don't mind. Honestly, I might not be able to get any, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to be happy. Maybe we could have a little date night. Order some deliciously greasy pizza, get a movie, and then see what happens. We haven't had a date night in months."

I nodded, thinking up a plan. Bella _had _been restricted to this house for a while, so she needed some fun. I wasn't stupid enough to not realize that was what she was implying. Well, it wasn't much implying, really. The only time she'd had company was over Thanksgiving, and that was probably more stressful than fun.

Our house wasn't near as big as my parents, so cramming ten other people into it for the holiday left a huge fucking mess. I mean, it was nice to celebrate with everyone and Bella enjoyed having our family here, but it wasn't relaxing. She needed relaxing and nice, not boring or insanely loud.

"How about I think up something and brave my mother to ask if she'd mind taking Sofia to her house for a night?" I asked.

Her face lit up as she grinned. "I'd _really _like that. I miss being intimate with you. Sex is something we can't do, but just being alone together would be nice."

"Then leave it all to me, all right? I love you."

"I love you too, Edward."

I leaned over, pressing my lips to hers for a long moment. I had a late surgery today, so I decided not to go in first thing. Mom had taken Little One to school and ran some errands, so I took advantage of the extra hour to spend with Bella. I couldn't fucking wait for an entire night.

* * *

By the time I got home that night, everyone had already eaten and Little One was getting her bath. Though my first surgery had been late and simple, my day had gotten hectic with multiple car accidents filling the ER. We often passed them off to Olympic Medical Center if the injuries were severe, but they were jammed too, and I'd had the skills to take care of the two critical victims. It was pure luck that the second had come in after I'd finished with the first and not during. Otherwise, the fifty-year-old man that I'd saved might not have been so lucky.

"I need to apologize to you," Mom said as I looked over the pot roast that was waiting for me. "You know, for this morning."

I lifted my head, meeting her eyes because I knew avoiding eye contact would just make it more awkward. But I mean, it was still pretty fucking awkward and this morning's trauma was fresh on my mind. "Yeah . . . that was . . . eventful."

She laughed softly, sliding onto the bar stool across from me. "I should have knocked or better yet, listened for the shower. I'm sorry for barging in on you, but you know, it's not like I haven't seen it before."

"That's a little awkward, Mom," I chuckled nervously. Fuck, this was weird. "Just . . . don't do it again, please. I should have locked the door."

She nodded as I turned to the microwave, laying the plate inside. "It won't happen again. Oh, and set it for three minutes."

I did as she said then leaned against the counter. "Let's never discuss it again either, okay? I actually have a favor to ask you, too."

"Anything, sweetheart."

"Bella and I need some alone time. I think this morning's . . . event made that very clear to us. Would you mind taking Little One back to your house on Friday night? I'll pick her up first thing Saturday and you can even stay home a few days since I'm off. We _really _appreciate your help, so I swear that I'm not being ungrateful. I just . . . miss being alone with my wife."

"I think that's a great idea." She smiled, nodding. "Your dad's been asking if I'd come home for a few days, so that works out perfectly. We'll keep her Friday night and you can pick her up in the morning. I'll come back once you go back to work. Wednesday, right?"

"Yeah, Bella has another doctor's appointment on Tuesday, so I took a vacation day to extend my long weekend. Really, though, your help has been incredible these last few weeks. I don't always realize how much I work, so having you here to help out with Bella and Sofia saves my ass."

"I love that I'm able to help, Edward. I can only imagine how stressful Bella's condition is on you two, so I'll do whatever I can do ease that burden."

I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest as I dropped my head. "I thought it'd be resolved by now, you know? Or she'd at least be off bed rest. But the fact that she's still bleeding here and there is scaring the hell out of me."

"I know it is, sweetheart."

She stood from her seat, walking around the counter to me. Her arms wrapped around my torso, but it wasn't much comfort. There was so much unknown and I just . . . I needed to _know_. One way or the other, I needed to know what was going to happen with Bella and our son. Would she need a C-section? Would the rest of her pregnancy be filled with worry? Or would this all resolve and just a terrifying memory?

"It will be okay," she said, pulling back from the embrace. "Bella and that little boy will come out of this just fine, and when you hold him in your arms for the first time, you'll forget all about how scary this was. You'll just feel joy."

I smiled softly, nodding. "I hope so. I try not to worry about this in front of Bella because she doesn't need that, but . . . it's nice to get it off my chest. I'm scared, and I'm not used to being scared."

"You're like your father in that way. You both think you know _all _the answers and can handle anything, but when it's someone you love . . . you don't know how to handle it."

"I don't have a fucking clue," I groaned, running my hand through my hair. "I guess I'll just have to figure it out, though, huh?"

"You will. It'll all be okay."

* * *

When Friday afternoon rolled around, I left the hospital a little early so that I could pick Little One up from school. Though she was usually the happiest kid in the whole fucking world to go to her grandparent's house, this time it was the complete opposite. She'd had a temper tantrum of epic proportions when we'd told her last night, so I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Leaning against my car, I waited as the bell rang and the kids started coming out of the school. Little One staggered behind everyone else, pouting as she walked toward me. The kid knew how to break my fucking heart, let's just say. I was pretty damn close to telling Bella we'd have a date night some other time, but that wouldn't be fair.

"Bad day, baby?" I asked, taking her backpack as she climbed into the backseat. "I thought we could go get a milkshake before heading home. Just me and you."

That perked her up.

"Really?" she asked, _almost _smiling. "I'm not going with Nana?"

"How about we talk about it over milkshakes?"

She huffed, nodding reluctantly. "Fine. I know you gonna make me go, though."

Clearly, the kid wasn't dumb.

Once I made sure she was buckled in, I got back in the car and drove to the diner in town. Little One's mood hadn't improved much until we sat down in the booth and the waitress brought out our chocolate shakes with whip cream and brownie pieces. _Then _she actually smiled.

"So, what's up, buttercup?" I asked as she giggled.

"You don't call me buttercup, Daddy. That's silly."

I chuckled softly, nodding. "Maybe a little, but I do what to know why you don't want to go to Nana and Pawpaw's house tonight. It's just one night."

"Mommy's not going. I need to stay with Mommy."

"Why, baby?" My brow creased as I rested my chin on my fist. "Why can't you leave Mommy? I'll be with her, so I promise she won't be alone."

She played with her straw, stirring it around in the chocolate shake as she shrugged. Jesus Christ, it was like pulling teeth.

"I know you have a reason."

"She's sick," she sighed. "I gotta stay with her because she needs me."

"Sofia, Mommy's not _sick_, like that. You don't really understand what's going on, do you?"

I hadn't exactly explained it to her very well, so I took full responsibility for her thinking this way. Now I understood why she was so reluctant to leave — hell, she threw a tantrum when she had to go back to school after that, too. The last time Bella was gone for a night our lives had had to change. Bella had to stay in bed and from Sofia's point of view, I could understand why she thought Bella was sick. In a way she was, but not how Sofia was thinking.

Little One shrugged, slurping on the milkshake before pushing the straw from her lips. "Mommy and the baby have to stay in bed because if they don't, Mommy will fall asleep like she did at my party. I don't want Mommy to fall asleep like that again, so I wanna stay with her. That was _really _scary."

I nodded, reaching across the table to grasp her small hand. "I was scared too, you know? Mommy fainted at your party, but not because she's sick. That happened because she was bleeding, and it shocked her to see. She has to stay in bed so she doesn't bleed anymore. This is a little hard to explain, so if you don't get it, tell me, okay?"

"Okay."

"When women are pregnant like Mommy is, their bodies . . . change. Besides the baby in her belly, she also has something called a placenta. That's how the baby gets his oxygen and nutrients — food, basically. It's a _very _important part of Mommy and the baby. Does that make any sense?"

"Not weally."

Yeah, this was going to be difficult.

"Well, all you need to know is that the placenta is in Mommy and it's the reason the baby is alive and growing. Now, I didn't really want to explain this to you yet, but I think you'll be okay with knowing it. When Mommy has the baby, she pushes it out of her. Anyway, that placenta is supposed to be _far _away from where the baby comes out when she pushes. Mommy's isn't. Do you understand that?"

"The pacenta is in the way of where the baby comes from?"

"Yes! Here, I'll draw you picture. That'll help better."

I took the menu and flipped it over, grabbing one of the crayons off the table. There was no way in hell I was explaining child birth to her in this diner, but I realized Bella and I would probably need to before our son was born. _That _was something she could do. We agreed on it once. I drew a circle on the paper and then a little stick figure for our son — incredible piece of art, let's just say.

"Here's your brother," I said, pointing it out to her. I drew another circle on the edge of the big one and told her that was where he'd come out of. I figured calling it a cervix would just raise more questions, so I left that out. "Now, this is the placenta."

I drew it close to the small circle as she nodded. "Where's it a'posed to be?"

"Way up here." I pointed. "The problem with this is that if Mommy is too active, she could bleed more. We don't want that, which is why she's had to stay in bed or on the couch. Now, it _should _move as the baby and her belly grow, but if it doesn't the baby will have to come out another way."

She cocked her head, biting her lip. "Another hole?"

"Surgery, like Daddy does."

"No!" Her eyes grew wide as she shook her head quickly. "That's _bad. _You do surgewy on sick people. I thought you said she wasn't sick!"

"That's what we're trying to prevent, Little One. I know it's a scary thought, but we're doing everything we can to keep that from happening. Mommy _is _okay right now. She's not going to faint anymore as long as she keeps doing what she's doing. Hopefully we can stop that soon, though. She goes back to the doctor on Tuesday to see if her placenta has moved. I promise you that _nothing _will happen to her — no matter what."

"But I wanna stay with her and make sure."

I smiled sadly, caressing her hand. "But that's not fun, baby. Mommy can't do a lot with you right now, and you deserve to have some fun. We have about four more months until the baby comes. We can't spend all of that time worrying about what might happen. Even if Mommy does need surgery, she _will _be okay. Daddy will make sure of it."

"Pwomise? You'll make her better?"

"Of course, baby. That's what daddies do."

Granted, I wouldn't be the one performing the cesarean if Bella needed it, but I _would _make sure she was all right. Bella wouldn't be in any danger if it came to that. I may have sucked building and fixing things around the house, but being a surgeon? Taking care of her that way? I was incredible, and not a damn thing would happen to Bella if it came to that.

"Can I come home fiwst thing tomorrow?" she asked.

I nodded. "I'll come get you whenever you're ready, and you can call and make sure Mommy is okay tonight. It's just one night. I promise. Cross my heart, even."

"I guess so," she sighed. "But I don't hafta go away again before the baby comes, got it?"

I chuckled, holding my hand out. "Deal."

* * *

After a long goodbye with Bella — which including Little One telling her placenta to move — Mom finally got Sofia into the car. I was kind of amazed that just explaining the whole situating and promising to take care of Bella worked. Little One was smarter than I realized. I should have known that she was just scared to leave her mom, but I hadn't.

I wouldn't put anything past her again, though.

"Now I feel bad about wanting a night alone," Bella said, moving her legs on the couch so I could sit down. "I knew she'd been overly attached to me lately, but I hadn't realized she was so afraid to leave me."

"She's a smart kid," I said, putting her feet in my lap and starting to massage them. Yeah, I gave massages. Husband of the year, obviously. "She knows something's wrong, so she thought leaving would be a bad idea. I guess we think the same way. I _hate _leaving you to go to work."

"Aww, now I feel bad for both of you. I'm _fine_. I mean, I feel great. I hate sitting around all day and doing nothing when I actually have energy. Maybe my placenta will listen to Sofia."

I laughed, nodding. "She was _very _demanding. I think I might have scared her about that, though."

"How?"

"I told her about the possibility of a cesarean — surgery. She made me promise to make you better, which I intend to do, by the way."

"You're going to do it?" she asked, raising her brow. "I'm pretty sure that's not allowed."

"No, but I'll be in there and I know what I'm doing, so I'll step in if I have to. I can make sure both of my girls — and soon my boy — are healthy. That's my job." I reached over, caressing her stomach as my left hand continued on her foot. "I can take care of you that way, and I swear I will."

"I've never doubted that. When Sofia's sick, I don't want anyone else but _you _taking care of her, even when you're scared to death and second guess yourself. I _know _you'll take care of us that way. As for the house stuff, I wouldn't let you near a hammer for all the money in the world." She laughed.

"I'm never going to live down hanging that picture!"

When we'd moved in here, I'd tried to get some things done around the house that Bella wanted. Well, no one had ever fucking told me that you needed to find a stud put a nail in the wall. My dad explained surgical procedures to me, not decorating. I'd hit the nail with the hammer and put a huge fucking hole in the wall. Bella had laughed for about an hour, and then gotten the putty out to fix it before hanging the damn picture herself.

"Nope." She grinned, laying her hand over mine. "But that's okay. I'll hang the pictures while you save people's lives."

"I'm _very _good at that, you know." I smirked, but then suddenly felt something _move _under my hand. My eyes went wide as I looked at her stomach. "He . . ."

"You felt it?" she asked as her mouth fell open. "You felt that, too?"

I nodded feverishly as I laughed. "He fucking kicked me! Bella! He kicked!"

I put my other hand on her stomach, _praying _for another kick. I'd never felt him move before, though she'd been feeling it for weeks. I couldn't . . . holy shit, I couldn't explain how it made me feel.

"Kick again for Daddy, baby boy," she said as her voice cracked with emotion. "Come on. You've been moving around for me, so do it for him."

"Oh my God," I said in awe, feeling him again. "He's so strong. I can't . . . I can't believe I feel it. Holy shit."

"It feels so weird, doesn't it? It's like . . . a flutter kind of. I didn't think you'd be able to feel it yet."

"Me neither." I looked up at her, grinning from ear to ear. "He's incredible. Bella, our soon is _moving. _I mean, I know I'm stating the obvious, but he's _fucking _moving!"

"Yep, and he's doing it just for his daddy."

I kissed her stomach over and over before bringing my lips up to hers. I was ecstatic. I was on the best damn high of my life because he'd _moved_. My son had moved for me, and it was the most incredible feeling in the world. Getting a hand job tonight was _almost _forgotten. I mean, I still wanted it, but right now I couldn't take my hand away from her stomach.

_This _was the most important thing in the world to me at the moment.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about being a few days late! Thanks so much for sticking with me!


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